The New York State Common Retirement Fund, Albany, posted an estimated 5.2% return on investment for the fiscal year ended March 31, Thomas DiNapoli, the state comptroller and sole trustee of the fund, said Thursday. The pension fund's assumed rate of return is 7%.
The pension fund "remains well positioned to meet its long-term return expectations and provide retirement security for our members, retirees and their beneficiaries," Mr. DiNapoli said in a news release. "It was a tumultuous year in the markets that fortunately came with more ups than downs, including a swift recovery from December's significant correction."
The pension fund's estimated asset value as of March 31 was $210.2 billion. The asset and return figures are estimates, pending an audit to be completed in the summer.
For the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018, the audited asset value was $207.4 billion. The audited return for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018, was 11.4%.
The annualized three-year return for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2018 was 7.5%. The annualized five-year return was 8.5%, and the annualized 10-year return was 6.5%.
For the year ended March 31, 2019, the best-performing asset categories were private equity (up 9.9%), domestic equities (8.8%), real assets (8.2%) and opportunistic alternatives (7.3%). The weakest asset categories were non-U.S. equities (-4.5%), absolute return strategies (up 2.1%) and cash (up 2.6%).
The largest asset allocations were domestic equities (35.8%), core fixed income (17.3%) and non-U.S. equities (12.9%).
Other allocations were for private equity (9.1%), real estate (7.3%), global equities (5.3%), Treasury inflation-protected securities (4%), absolute return strategies (2.5%), non-core fixed income (2%), cash (1.5%), opportunistic alternatives (1.3%) and real assets (1%).
