New York State Common rides rebound to post 33.55% return for fiscal year

New York State Common Retirement Fund, Albany, posted an estimated return of 33.55%, net of fees, for the fiscal year ended March 31, according to Thomas P. DiNapoli, the state comptroller and sole trustee of the fund.

"The state pension fund rode the market rebound from the depths of the pandemic and enjoyed the largest one-year investment return in its history," Mr. DiNapoli said in a news release issued Wednesday.

The big gain "comes with a caution," he added. "Markets remain volatile and as unpredictable as ever."

The pension fund's long-term expected rate of return is 6.8%. The latest return and asset results are subject to an audit, which is usually completed in September.

The pension fund's performance was aided in part because its fiscal year started after the January-March 2020 period for which the coronavirus pandemic inflicted the most economic and stock market damage.

That quarter played a prominent role in the pension fund's return of -2.7% for the fiscal year ended March 31, 2020, including a return of -11.6% for the fourth quarter in that fiscal year.

In the pandemic-influenced fiscal year ended March 31, 2020, the pension fund's assets were $194.3 billion. However, estimated assets for the just-completed fiscal year rebounded to $254.8 billion.

For the fiscal year ended March 31, three-year annualized returns were 11%; five-year returns were 11.2%; 10-year returns were 9.2%; and 20-year returns were 10.1%. All returns are net of fees.

Also for the just-completed fiscal year, asset categories with the biggest estimated returns were global equities at 64.6%; domestic equities, 61.4%; and non-U.S. equities, 54.6%.

Asset allocations for the fiscal year were 33.6% domestic equities, 20.8% fixed income, 13.6% non-U.S. equities, 10.6% private equity, 6.7% real estate, 5.6% global equities, 3.3% credit, 2.3% cash, 2% opportunistic/absolute-return strategies and 1.5% real assets.