State retirement fund to hit growth mark

The fund investing on behalf of the state and local retirement system likely exceeded expectations for the fiscal year that ended this spring, according to state Comptroller Tom DiNapoli.

The state Common Retirement Fund was valued at $248.5 billion at the start of the fiscal year in April 2023 and was worth nearly $260 billion at the end of the third quarter, following a return of more than six percent that quarter, according to the comptroller’s office. The fund’s long-term expected rate of return is 5.9 percent.

“We will have a return this year, when the final numbers are crunched, well in excess of 5.9 (percent),” DiNapoli said on The Capitol Pressroom this week.

The comptroller’s office values the common retirement fund on March 31, so any volatility in the markets at the end of the fiscal year can be a big deal for the contributions that state and local governments need to make toward the retirement benefits of public sector retirees.

“I learned the hard way the the Ides of March often don’t benefit us. That being said, (the first quarter) for 2024 actually was a very good quarter,” DiNapoli said.

“So this year, actually, the March calendar works for us,” the Long Island Democrat added.

The fund ended the last calendar year with about 42 percent of its assets in publicly traded equities, according to an OSC press release.