RALEIGH, N.C. — North Carolina’s retirement fund is among companies and institutions caught up in the failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, having invested some $18 million in the two firms.
The North Carolina State Treasurer’s Office confirms that it owned $9.9 million in SVB stock and $7.8 million in Signature Bank shares.
The two banks were closed by regulators – SVB on Friday and Signature Bank on Sunday.
However, the $18 million represents only a small part of the plan’s assets which total well over $100 billion.
“As I understand it we have a small exposure through mostly index funds,” a spokesperson told WRAL News.
The recent failures of Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank, which catered mostly to the tech industry, may have you worried about your money. They were the second- and third-biggest bank failures in U.S. history.
It all started last week when too many depositors tried to withdraw their money from Silicon Valley Bank in Santa Clara, California. That's known as a bank run.
The bank had to sell treasury bonds and other securities at a steep loss and more people kept trying to withdraw money as word of the situation spread, causing the bank to fail. Regulators took control of New York-based Signature Bank soon after, saying it was necessary to protect depositors after too many people withdrew money.
In response, regulators guaranteed all deposits at the two banks and created a program to help shield other banks to shield them from a run on deposits.
The Associated Press, WRAL, and Tegna contributed to this report