Dear New Yorkers,
Here at the Comptroller’s office, we have many critical responsibilities. But there’s none we take more seriously than protecting the retirement security of the members of the City’s five pension funds: our teachers, cops, firefighters, sanitation workers, public hospital nurses, accountants, school crossing guards, and so many more.
So I’m delighted to report that for the fiscal year ending June 30, our five pension funds achieved a combined net return of 10.0%, outpacing the 7% actuarial target set for us by the State legislature (and ahead of some of our large U.S. public pension fund peers as well). As a result, the funds ended FY24 with a value of $274.4 billion in assets, making us now the third largest public pension system in the country.
Thanks to the hard work of our Bureau of Asset Management, working in close partnership with the trustees of the five funds, this 10% net return not only strengthens the retirement security of our retirees. It also translates into $1.8 billion of savings for the City budget over the next five fiscal years – money we can invest in our schools, parks, sanitation, safety, or other crucial programs to improve the quality of life for New Yorkers.
While I’m pleased by this year’s returns, we always stay focused on long-term results, the most important metric for determining a pension fund’s success. And on that note, the Systems have an annualized average five-year return of 7.4% and a ten-year return of 8.1%. We’ll keep working hard every day to achieve strong returns and provide retirement security for the hardworking New Yorkers who have served our city.
For our Spotlight this month, we take the first published look at consumer debt levels and trends for New York City households in recent years. With the help of federal pandemic stimulus, many households were able to pay down credit card debt in 2020 and 2021. Unfortunately, over the past year, credit card debt levels and delinquencies have increased significantly, especially among residents of the Bronx, low-income neighborhoods, and holders of student debt.
If we want all households to have financial security, the numbers show we’ve got work to do.
