DiNapoli hit on pension fund woes by GOP foe

ALBANY – The Republican candidate for state controller on Monday blasted incumbent Democrat Thomas DiNapoli's handling of the $206.9 billion state pension fund.

Jonathan Trichter (below) released a report claiming the pension fund over the last 11 years has actually underperformed in multiple categories despite DiNapoli's public contentions to the contrary.

Trichter said the pension fund's gross rate of return under DiNapoli has been 5.59% for the period, well below his projected 7.6%. Trichter said that has resulted in $137 billion in shortfalls over the past decade.

“Comptroller Tom DiNapoli's across-the-board underperformance reflects a systemic investment failure at one of the nation's largest pension funds,” Trichter said.

Trichter is running as a Republican despite being a longtime Democratic operative. He filed to change his Democratic Party affiliation in May as he sought the GOP nomination, but the switch won't take effect until after the Nov. 6 election.

DiNapoli's camp said Trichter's numbers didn't take into consideration the monthly benefit payments to retirees and were skewed by the inclusion of historic-low yields after the Great Recession in 2008.

“It's not surprising that a guy who just joined the party of Donald Trump is now trafficking in fake news to get attention,” DiNapoli campaign spokesman Doug Forand said. “His numbers simply do not add up.”