New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli today announced that the New York State Common Retirement Fund’s (Fund) investment return was -4.14% for the state fiscal year that ended March 31, 2023. The Fund closed the year valued at $248.5 billion.

“Recent months have been trying for investors, but thanks to the state pension fund’s diverse investments, members, retirees and beneficiaries can rest assured their pensions are secure,” DiNapoli said. “There is no doubt that challenges lie ahead, with concerns over a recession and potential interest rate increases, but the state pension fund is well positioned to weather these storms.”

The Fund's value reflects retirement and death benefits of $14.7 billion paid out during the fiscal year. Employer contribution rates are determined by investment results over a multi-year period along with numerous other actuarial assumptions, including wage growth, inflation, age of retirement and mortality. Integral to the Fund’s strength have been the state and local governments, which consistently pay their contributions.

As of March 31, 2023, the Fund had 44.14% of its assets invested in publicly traded equities. The remaining Fund assets by allocation are invested in cash, bonds and mortgages (21.53%), private equity (14.61%), real estate and real assets (13.39%) and credit, absolute return strategies and opportunistic alternatives (6.33%).

The Fund’s long-term expected rate of return is 5.9%. The Fund’s annual valuation date is tied to the state fiscal year.

The New York State Common Retirement Fund is one of the largest public pension funds in the United States. The Fund holds and invests the assets of the New York State and Local Retirement System on behalf of more than one million state and local government employees and retirees and their beneficiaries. It has consistently been ranked as one of the best managed and best funded plans in the nation.

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Fund’s historic value and rate of return in prior years
Return for the third quarter
Return for 2022