Annualized returns of State Retirement Systems (As of March 31, 2022)
State Retirement Systems holdings
Time 12 months. . . . . . 3 years . . . . . . . . 5 years. . . . . . . . . 10 years . . . . . . . 15 years. . . . . . . . 20 years. . . . . . . .
Actual returns Long-term Policy Benchmark 4.1%. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6% 8.5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10.1 7.8. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8.5 7.3. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.9 6.1. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8 6.7. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
(March 31, 2022) Type of investment Market Value % of Assets Public Equity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . $37.2 billion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32.8% Fixed Income and Cash. . . . . . . . . . . . 30 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26.5 Pension Cash. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13.2 Private Equity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7.2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.4 Opportunistic Fixed Income. . . . . . . . 7 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.2 Core Real Estate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6.5. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.8 Inflation-Sensitive. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5.6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4.9 Non-core Real Estate. . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.6. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.3 Multi-Strategy. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2.2. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2 Total $113 billion
STEPPING UP
D
oes Dale Folwell want to be governor? He won’t answer the question directly, but his relentless statewide travel to address civic organizations and Republican groups and heavy media presence hint that he would relish the opportunity.
Commitments to private-asset classes Dale Folwell has trimmed state pension fund investing in alternatives to stocks and bonds, compared with the two previous treasurers. These are new commitments. 2002-2008. . . . . . . . . . . . $14.9 billion . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Richard Moore) 2009-2016. . . . . . . . . . . . $31.5 billion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Janet Cowell) 2017-2022. . . . . . . . . . . . $6.2 billion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (Dale Folwell) Source: State Treasurer’s office
Jumping from the treasurer’s office to the Governor’s mansion has never happened in North Carolina. A more traditional path is from the attorney general or lieutenant governor slots. And most pundits say the leading contenders to succeed Roy Cooper after the 2024 elections are Attorney General Josh Stein, a Democrat, or Lt. Gov. Mark Robinson, who has quickly developed a strong following with conservative Republicans. Still, Folwell could be a formidable candidate because of his “countrypolitan style” of politicking, according to Mac McCorkle, a professor at Duke’s Sanford School of Government. Countrypolitan refers to the outlying counties in a metropolitan area. They tend to be more conservative than the cities, are growing rapidly and tended to favor Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. “[Folwell is] a reformer but otherwise very conservative and could have some crossover appeal in a general election,” McCorkle says.
Joe Stewart, a longtime political aide and government affairs official in Raleigh, notes that Folwell has something of a built-in constituency in the 950,000 current and former state employees who are enrolled in health care and pension plans. The State Employees Association of North Carolina, which tends to lean Democrat, has twice supported him for treasurer, citing his “experience to manage our members’ retirement funds wisely.” Robinson’s focus on social issues and Folwell’s emphasis on lunch-pail matters provide different populist agendas. Folwell, who typically defers questions on nonpocketbook issues, has been in elective office or held a government job since 1993. Robinson had never run for office until his election in 2020. “Folwell has a pretty strong record to point to,” Stewart says. “He’s as tenacious as any state legislator I’ve ever worked with.” ■
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