North Dakota’s chief investment officer says the state’s investments are still doing well – despite some volatility in capital markets, brought on by the crisis in Greece.
"There was clearly a large global equity correction that occurred in august," said CIO David Hunter. "During the week of Aug. 17th, there was a 10 percent decline in global equities, and we did feel an impact from that."
But Hunter says the way North Dakota’s investments are structured means state investments weathered that storm.
"We have a diversified investment portfolio," said Hunter. "We also invest in fixed income, and real estate, and timber, and infrastructure. So when there are those types of global equity declines happen, we're generally going to feel a lesser impact."
Hunter says the rate of return in fiscal 2015 was around 3.5 percent in the state’s two main retirement funds. That compares to a 30 year average of more than 8 percent. Hunter says he’s very optimistic that the long term outlook remains very good.
Meanwhile, the State Investment Board received some very good marks in a recent survey of client satisfaction. Clients were asked to rate the board on a scale from zero to 4 – zero being completely dissatisfied, and 4 being completely satisfied.
"The survey showed a 3.7 out of 4," said Hunter. "It's like an A-."
Hunter says the state has a very engaged investment board.
"That's shown by the level of commitment and the time we put in," said Hunter. "It's also a function of choosing good investment consultants, investment managers, actuaries, accountants and auditors, to report everything properly."
