The North Carolina Senate overwhelmingly approved raising the bar on alternative investments for the North Carolina Retirement Systems, Raleigh, to as much as 40% of its assets.
If the bill is approved by the House and governor, the $78.1 billion pension fund's alternatives allocation could increase from the current limit of 34%.
The measure was approved by the Senate on Monday by a 48-1 vote, with one abstention. It has not been scheduled for a House vote.
State Treasurer Janet Cowell, the pension fund's sole trustee, wants more flexibility on asset allocation and noted in a briefing memo about the legislation that passage of the bill would prevent having to sell off well-performing alternative assets that exceed the current statutory limits, which are 10% real estate, 7.5% other alternatives, 6.5% hedge funds and 5% each in an inflation-protection portfolio and credit strategies.
The current asset allocation is 44.6% global equity, 35.4% fixed income, 7.9% real estate, 4.9% alternatives, 4.1% credit strategies and 3.1% inflation strategies.
