The Investment Decisionmaking Process in Two New York Public Employee Retirement Plans

Information on the investment decisionmaking process of the New York State Employees' Retirement System and the Teachers' Retirement System of the City of New York was obtained from summary data and interviews with cognizant officials. The information obtained was not verified and the adequacy of procedures and practices followed by the plans was not evaluated.

The New York State Employees' Retirement System is the largest of three State-administered retirement plans for employees of the State and local governments. This plan covers about 552,000 active members, compared with the 259,000 members covered by the two other plans. As of March 31, 1975, this plan had about $6.1 billion in assets, compared with $5.6 billion for the other plans. The State comptroller is responsible for the management and operations of the plan, including the investment of plan assets. He draws on a variety of staff resources and outside investment advisors to administer the plan and manage the investment program. The Teachers' Retirement System of the City of New York is the second largest of five retirement plans in the city. As of June 30, 1975, it had over 83,000 active members and assets totaling about $3 billion. The other four plans had about 257,000 active members and assets of about $5 billion. This plan is managed and controlled by a board of trustees.