It may not seem an opportune time to invest in fixed-income hedge funds, but that’s just what the New York City Employee Retirement System plans to do. The board of the city's largest pension fund last month voted to invest up to 3% of its $38.8 billion portfolio in fixed-income hedge funds.

NYCERS trustees include Finance Commissioner Martha Stark, representing Mayor Michael Bloomberg, City Comptroller Bill Thompson, Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum, borough presidents and union leaders. The board voted unanimously to place their bets on the troubled industry, the New York Post reports.

NYCERS has instructed its investment consultant, Callan Associates, to begin sourcing fund of hedge fund managers. Thompson, in an interview with CNBC, said the fund was looking at some very conservative hedge fund strategies and that “perhaps this is a good time to get in.”