New York City’s biggest public employee pension fund is poised to vote Thursday to begin pulling its investments from hedge funds, the latest move by a large pension plan to scrap an investment path that once promised big returns, the Wall Street Journal reported today. The move by the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, which says it is the nation’s largest pension fund for municipal employees, is expected to be approved in a majority vote by its trustees. “Hedge funds are charging exorbitant fees for high-risk and opaque investments,” said Letitia James, the city’s public advocate, and one of the trustees of the pension fund. “As financial stewards of public employees’ money, we must invest in responsible and secure assets,” she said in a statement. The vote comes after other large public pension funds in California and Illinois have taken similar steps. A large pension fund in Ohio recently took testimony on the topic. Read more. (Subscription required.)
The impact of public pension debt on the economy will be the focus of a special "Eye on Bankruptcy" panel before a live audience on Saturday at ABI's Annual Spring Meeting in Washington, D.C.!
