NYC pension system posts 8% net return for fiscal year

Correction: The asset class results represent how much each class contributed to the overall 8% return.

New York City Retirement Systems recorded a net return of 8% for the fiscal year ended June 30 as assets rose to $253.2 billion, topping the system's assumed rate of return, the city's comptroller, Brad Lander, reported Monday.

"Despite global economic challenges and market volatility," the audited results exceeded the pension system's assumed rate of return of 7%, Mr. Lander said in a news release.

Mr. Lander is the trustee to and custodian of the five pension funds within the city system. Each pension fund is governed by an independent board of trustees.

The pension system posted a -8.65% net return for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022, on assets of $239.5 billion.

"I'm proud of the positive returns achieved in a challenging year, but we must focus on long-term outcomes to deliver on pension promises made to our plans' beneficiaries," Steven Meier, the system's chief investment officer, said in the news release.

According to the news release, the aggregate asset allocation for the five pension funds was approximately 45% public equities, 30% public fixed income and 25% alternative investments.

The biggest contributors to the overall return were U.S. equity (5.05 percentage points), international equity (1.83), emerging markets equity (0.48) and high-yield fixed income (0.48). The worst performers were core fixed income (-0.17 percentage points), private real estate (-0.12) and Treasury inflation-protected securities (-0.04).

As of June 30, the net, audited three-year annualized return was 7.5%; the five-year return was 6.8%; and the seven-year return was 7.9%.