New York State Common Retirement Fund, Albany, will internally manage a $2 billion passive fund pegged to an FTSE Russell climate-change risk index, confirmed Mark Johnson, spokesman for New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli, sole trustee of the $268.3 billion pension fund.
The index fund will be tied to the Russell 1000 TPI Climate Transition Index and managed within the retirement fund's public equities portfolio. Funding will come from the retirement fund's $20 billion sustainable investment and climate solutions program.
The index measures companies' fossil fuel reserves, carbon emissions, green revenues, management quality and carbon performance, which all will be used to overweight, underweight or exclude businesses based on their transition readiness.
This allocation is part of the retirement fund's climate action plan and goal of transitioning its investment portfolio to net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2040.
