New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli released the following statement today after the Pew Charitable Trusts public policy foundation ranked the New York State Common Retirement Fund as the fourth best-funded retirement system among states:

"The financial health of our state pension fund is very strong, as validated once again by the Pew Charitable Trusts who ranked it as one of the nation's most well-funded public pension plans," New York State Comptroller DiNapoli said. "We have strategically put New York on a steady course to capitalize on long-term market opportunities and weather the volatility of the markets in the short-term. We have been vigilant about maintaining our industry-leading funded status unlike too many other public pension funds that are not as well-funded. We know that more than one million members, retirees and their families rely on us for their financial security in retirement, and we're making sure that our state pension fund is one of the best in the nation."

According to Pew, only New York (91%), South Dakota (97%), Tennessee (94%) and Wisconsin (99%) were at least 90 percent funded (see Figure 1 of the report).

The report can be found at: http://www.pewtrusts.org/en/research-and-analysis/issue-briefs/2018/04/the-state-pension-funding-gap-2016

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, with an estimated $209.1 billion in assets under management as of Dec. 31, 2017. 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 a diversified portfolio of public and private equities, fixed income, real estate and alternative instruments.