NC treasurer: State pension fund will withstand market downturn

The $105 billion state pension fund is down only about 1 percent amid a market sell-off that has seen the Dow Jones fall by 18 percent in the past three weeks.

"This plan remains – even today, after this downturn – one of the safest plans in the United States, if not the world," State Treasurer Dale Folwell said of the pension fund.

Nearly a million state workers and retirees have their retirement income wrapped up in the pension fund.

Retiree Johnny Parrish said he's having a tough time stomaching the market dive. He checks the market several times a day – against his financial adviser’s advice.

"He told me, 'Johnny, quit worrying about.' He said, 'It’s going to drive you crazy,'" Parrish said.

But he said he worries his retirement might not last if the stock market doesn’t improve.

"I may have to get back out and get a part-time job to help even things out," he said.

Folwell noted that, any time the value of the fund drops, managers are concerned because they have to cut checks for pension plan participants each month. But the pension has a history of conservative investments to limit volatility.

"In 2011, the market was down 16 percent, and we were down about 8 percent," he said. "There hasn’t been a lot of gambling going on in the plan."

The Moody's bond rating service said last fall that North Carolina's pension burden is the lowest in the U.S. The Pew Charitable Trusts conducted stress tests on a number of state pension systems last year and said North Carolina's "shows especially well ... due to strong funding policy and funding levels."

Folwell said the findings show the state's pension fund is "one of the No. 1 plans in the U.S. to withstand any type of economic downturn."

Parrish said he hopes that holds true for his retirement.

"You just pray about it and just hope that everything is going to turn out good and things will pick back up," he said.