Interview – New York City Retirement System
INTERVIEW – STEVEN MEIER
“Liquidity is a precious commodity. One that can be here today, gone tomorrow.”
The chief investment officer of the New York City Retirement System tells Andrew Holt about running five pension plans, learning curves and the importance of taking a long-term view.
As well as being chief investment officer of the New York City Retirement System (NYCRS), you are deputy comptroller for asset management. What are your respon- sibilities in that role?
Deputy comptroller means I’m an une- lected official reporting to Brad Lander, the comptroller of New York City, a per- son I would say is a wonderful leader who cares about the people of New York City. The main aspect of my role is being the chief investment officer for the Bureau of Asset Management, a division within the
14 | portfolio institutional | February 2023 | Issue 120
comptroller’s office which oversees the pension investments.
What is the investment approach of NYCRS?
It has five schemes. Alongside the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, there are plans for the city’s teachers, police officers, fire fighters and educa- tional workers.
Each plan has its own asset allocation strategy, investment policy and board of trustees, who are ultimately the fiduciary
of the plans. It is my role, as chief invest- ment officer, to support them. We bring the whole Bureau of Asset Man- agement to assist the trustees. It is about engaging with them on their priorities, helping them make the best decisions and address their concerns. We then make rec- ommendations to the five different plans. The assets under management for all the plans total $242bn (£199bn). And there is a big difference in the size of each plan. The largest, the teachers, is $100bn (£82.3bn) and second to that is the plan
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