The New York State Common Retirement Fund's (Fund) estimated rate of return for the third quarter ending Dec. 31, 2013 was 5.14 percent, increasing the Fund's value to an estimated $173.2 billion, according to New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. The Fund ended its fiscal year on March 31, 2013 at $160.7 billion.

"The New York State Common Retirement Fund enjoyed a robust third quarter that saw continued strong performance in domestic and developed international equities markets," DiNapoli said. "Our investment strategy is geared toward consistently achieving long term results but we watch the markets closely to capitalize on emerging opportunities.”

The Fund has 37.6 percent of its assets invested in publicly traded domestic equities and 17.1 percent in international public equities. The remaining Fund assets by allocation are invested in cash, bonds and mortgages (27.6 percent), private equity (7.8 percent), real estate (6.6 percent), absolute return strategy (3.1 percent) and opportunistic strategy alternatives (0.2 percent).

In 2009, DiNapoli initiated quarterly performance reporting by the Fund as part of his on-going efforts to increase accountability and transparency.

About the Common Retirement Fund

New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli is trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund, the third largest public pension plan in the United States with more than one million members, retirees and beneficiaries from more than 3,000 state and local government employers.

The Fund has a diversified portfolio of public and private equities, fixed income, real estate and alternative instruments and has consistently been ranked as one of the best managed and best funded plans in the nation. Over the past 20 years, 80 percent of the cost of benefit payments has been funded by investment returns. The Fund’s fiscal year ends March 31, 2014.