New York City’s five pension funds reported an aggregate 13% investment return in fiscal 2026—the one-year period that ended June 30—New York City Comptroller Mark Levine announced Wednesday.
Assets of the five systems—the New York City Teachers’ Retirement System, the Employees’ Retirement System, the Police Pension Fund, the Fire Pension Fund and the Board of Education Retirement System—now manage a combined $326.3 billion in assets.
Additionally, the comptroller’s office reported three-, five-, seven- and 10-year annualized returns of 11.1%, 6.2%, 8.6% and 8.9%, respectively. The city’s pension funds’ assumed actuarial return target is 7% to meet ongoing pension liabilities. Fiscal 2026 performance will also reduce pension obligations by $6.3 billion over five fiscal years beginning in fiscal year 2028, the comptroller’s office reported.
“Retirees work for decades to earn the financial security that a pension provides and protecting that security requires a disciplined and prudent investment approach,” Levine said in a statement. “Global markets faced significant headwinds over the past year, and our results demonstrate the importance of maintaining a long-term focus and a diversified strategy designed to deliver sustainable, risk-adjusted returns for decades to come.”
Emerging markets investments, which make up 4.6% of the portfolio, accounted for the city funds’ best-performing investment strategy, with a 42% return and a 1.7-percentage-point contribution to returns. U.S. equities—which represented 27.4% of total assets–generated a 22.9% return and contributed 5.9 percentage points to total returns.
Additionally, hedge funds returned 19.2% during the fiscal year, a record return for the city’s hedge fund program. The comptroller’s office also reported stronger returns in real estate, at 6.3%, due to a strategic shift towards multifamily and industrial properties and a reduction in the funds’ commercial office exposure.
“This past year’s performance reflects our commitment to deliver for hundreds of thousands of members and beneficiaries counting on us to safeguard the retirement assets that they have worked tirelessly to earn,” said Monte Tarbox, CIO of the comptroller’s Bureau of Asset Management, which oversees the investments of the city’s pension funds. “I am grateful for the leadership of Comptroller Levine, and the commitment of staff within the Bureau of Asset Management, and our fruitful partnership with our asset managers, trustees and investment consultants that made this possible.”
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