Mark Levine
New York City Comptroller Mark Levine wants to increase the city’s pension investments in affordable housing, and will not slow down on the city’s sustainability initiatives, Levine said in an interview with CIO.
As comptroller, Levine oversees the five New York City pension systems—the Teachers’ Retirement System, Employees Retirement System, Police Pension Fund, Fire Pension Fund, and the Board of Education Retirement System—which collectively manage $311.35 billion in assets.
“My No. 1 obligation in this role is to protect the retirement assets of the three-quarters of a million people who have worked or continue to work for New York City. We take that very seriously to maximize risk adjusted returns,” Levine says. “This is going to be top of mind for me at all times.”
One area of the portfolio that Levine is excited about is its economically targeted investments—investments that provide an economic benefit to the city. Levine wants to increase the funds’ investments in affordable housing under the ETI program, noting that the city has not invested the maximum it can under its asset allocation policy.
“This was a big focus of my campaign, investing that money in affordable housing in the city, and we’re already working on … a couple of deals that would strike that balance of achieving the kind of returns we need for our funds but also financing affordable housing that might not otherwise get built,” Levine says.
Under the NYC pensions’ current asset allocation, up to 2% of the portfolio can be deployed into these ETIs. The pension system has a 1% allocation to these investments. “The pension fund is so big, that gives us another $3 billion to invest,” Levine says.
Search for a New CIO
The comptroller’s Bureau of Asset Management, which oversees the investments of the pension system, is currently searching for a permanent CIO. Levine provided an update on the search, and highlighted the success of Monte Tarbox, the systems’ interim CIO.
“We had an internal committee running selection for our interim CIO, and you almost couldn’t fabricate a resume with more relevant experience, and he has proven to be extremely adept at immediately pivoting and hitting the ground running for us,” Levine says.
Stephen Meier, the systems previous CIO, left in November after three years for a new opportunity at Neuberger Berman. In January, Tarbox, a seasoned pension executive with decades of experience, was named to the interim role. The comptroller’s office hired Korn Ferry to assist with the search for a permanent CIO, and Levine hopes to find a candidate by the spring.
Sustainability Commitment
Three NYC pension systems—NYCERS, TRS and BERS—adopted a net-zero implementation plan in 2023, with the goal of achieving net zero portfolio emissions by 2040. Levine aims to continue the systems’ work on sustainability initiatives set by the previous comptroller, Brad Lander.
“We have a commitment that three of the five pension funds in New York have established to achieve net zero in our portfolio by the year 2040,” Levine says. “I’m going to do everything I can to execute on that, and so that means we are pushing all our portfolio companies on their sustainability plans. We’re pushing our fund managers to be on the same page with us.”
Levine’s predecessor, Lander, in November called for the city to drop three of its managers—BlackRock, Fidelity, and PanAgora Asset Management—over their “inadequate decarbonization plans.”
Under the net-zero implementation plan, NYC’s managers are required to submit decarbonization plans and outline how they are aligned with the expectations of the pension system, including their engagement on sustainability and climate issues with their portfolio companies.
The city’s 49 external asset managers were required to submit their decarbonization strategies by the end of last June, and all but three—BlackRock, Fidelity and PanAgora—had decarbonization plans that align with the pension funds’ net-zero implementation plan.
Levine notes that the city is deep in discussion with its managers about its sustainability goals and ensuring there is alignment.
“We expect that all of our fund managers buy into that plan, and we’re currently in talks with the big ones right now to make sure that they can reinforce our goals towards net zero by 2040,” Levine says. “That does include BlackRock and Fidelity… we have high expectations of them and helping achieve our climate goals, and we’re talking to them about that at this very moment.”
Levine adds that he will continue the NYC pension funds’ role as an activist shareholder. In 2025, the Comptroller’s Office submitted shareholder proposals to 27 portfolio companies, withdrawing 16 proposals after companies agreed to take steps to implement proposal requests, according to the city’s 2025 proxy season report.
“We absolutely are going to continue to be extremely activist on climate, on corporate governance and transparency, on worker protections and potentially more,” Levine says. “And I understand the landscape’s a little more complicated now because of some of the Trump administration’s obstacles [that] they’ve put up, but there are so many ways to engage … and we plan to find ways to make our position known.”
The city’s proxy report noted that the 2025 season “was defined by an especially difficult landscape for shareholders proposals and proponents, shaped by regulatory shifts, political headwinds, and changing asset manager behavior,” the report stated. “These converging forces created new barriers to advancing proposals—particularly those addressing environmental, social, and governance risks.”
Emerging Managers
Investing via emerging and diverse managers is among Levine’s priorities. Later this month, his office, as well as the New York state comptroller and the NY State Insurance Fund, will host their second annual emerging managers week.
“[It is] also extremely important to me that the people managing the funds of our city look more like the people of the city, greater reflect the diversity of the city. … We have made some progress on that in recent years, and we have more progress to make,” Levine says. “And elevating emerging managers and diverse managers through this conference is really one of the pillars of our strategy.”
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Monte Tarbox Named Interim CIO of NYC Pension System |
Tags: New York City Bureau of Asset Management, New York City Comptroller’s Office