On April 30, 2024, the NYC Comptroller announced new asset allocations for the five NYC pension funds. This announcement boils down to a statement that four of the five pension systems are going to reduce their % of stock holdings and increase their % of garbage assets, otherwise known as "alternative assets". Why would anyone invest in garbage? That is a key question.
The pension trustees, which included the Comptroller, would have you believe their current asset allocations are doing well and that they are going to make them better.
Of course, there is no analysis of the investment performance of the current asset allocations, whether it is better than a basic 60/40 stock and bond asset allocation and whether the new asset allocation will make things better.
That is because that the current asset allocation is doing worse than the basic asset allocation and that an expansion of the current asset allocation will only make the deficit worse.
I won't even get into issue of runaway investment fees for the garbage asset class.
