By Samantha Marcus | NJ Advance Media for NJ.com
on April 13, 2017 at 8:15 AM, updated April 13, 2017 at 8:51 AM
TRENTON — State-run government pension funds spent $10 billion on fees and performance bonuses in 2014 to private managers of their alternative investments, a strategy that has stirred controversy in New Jersey.
The report from the Pew Charitable Trusts found that the 73 largest state and local public pension funds invested about half their assets in stocks, a quarter in bonds and cash, and a quarter in such alternative investments as hedge funds, real estate and private equity.
New Jersey’s portfolio at the time varied only slightly from that typical makeup, with 45 percent of its assets in equities, 28 percent in fixed income and 27 percent in alternatives.
Two of the 73 funds didn’t invest in alternatives, while 21 had at least 30 percent of their assets invested in them and five had at least 40 percent invested.
