New York State Common divests publicly traded prison holdings

New York State Common Retirement Fund, Albany, has divested its holdings in publicly traded prison companies.

Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli, the sole trustee of the $206.9 billion pension fund, "approved an updated restriction policy for investments in private prison companies, Jennifer Freeman, a spokeswoman for Mr. DiNapoli, wrote in an email. "The updated policy applies to all asset classes of the New York State Common Retirement Fund and will eliminate the fund's direct holdings in private prison companies."

The pension fund's holdings totaled $9.6 million: $3.8 million in CoreCivic Inc. and $5.8 million in The Geo Group Inc., Ms. Freeman wrote. "Because of the limited size of these holdings, imposing these restrictions will not negatively impact the fund," she wrote.

The pension fund has restricted investments in private prisons since 1999, she added. Mr. DiNapoli recently updated the list of companies subject to the restrictions

New York State and New York City prohibit private prisons. The $194 billion New York City Retirement Systems divested its private-prison holdings 13 months ago.