Bloomberg – In one of the few things Republicans and Democrats can agree on in North Carolina, the state is adding to its losing bets on hedge funds, private equity and real estate to pump up lagging returns at its $80 billion public-worker pension fund.
Governor Pat McCrory, a Republican, signed a bill in August raising limits on investments in alternatives to stocks and bonds. The Tar Heel state’s hedge-fund bets lost 2 percent annually for the five years ending June 30, 2012. Its private-equity portfolio has returned about 5 percent over 10 years, 7.5 percentage points below the median U.S. public pension, according to Preqin Ltd., a London-based research firm.
