The New York State Common Retirement Fund’s overall return in the third quarter of the Fund’s 2015-2016 fiscal year was 2.88 percent for the three-month period ending Dec. 31, 2015, according to New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli. The Fund had an estimated value of $178.3 billion at the close of its third quarter.

“The Fund experienced some recovery in the third quarter as markets continued to challenge investors across asset classes,” DiNapoli said. “As a long term investor, however, the Fund measures its success in years and decades, not months. We’re focused on prudent management of investments that weather volatility and provide sustainable returns and retirement security for generations to come.”   

The Fund's estimated value reflects benefits paid out during the quarter.

As of December 31, 2015, the Fund had approximately 37.4 percent of its assets invested in publicly traded domestic equities and 15.3 percent in international public equities. The remaining Fund assets by allocation are invested in cash (2.3 percent), Treasury Inflation Protected Securities (TIPS) (4.8 percent), bonds and mortgages (21.4 percent), private equity (7.6 percent), real estate (6.3 percent), absolute return strategies (3.6 percent) and opportunistic alternatives and real assets (1.3 percent).

DiNapoli initiated quarterly estimated performance reporting by the Fund in 2009 as part of his on-going efforts to increase accountability and transparency. The Fund's actual value is determined by an audit at the end of its fiscal year.

About the New York State Common Retirement Fund

The New York State Common Retirement Fund is the third largest public pension fund 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. The Fund has consistently been ranked as one of the best managed and best funded plans in the nation. Its fiscal year ends March 31, 2016.