Public records reviewed by news outlets indicate that former New York City comptroller Brad Lander oversaw an increase in the city’s pension holdings in seven Chinese companies that were later placed on the federal Uyghur Forced Labor Prevention Act entity list. The investments, spanning textile, appliance and chemical firms, were made while Lander led the city’s five public retirement systems and are now being highlighted by critics as a potential weak spot in his campaign as he runs in the Democratic primary for New York’s 10th Congressional District.
According to the New York Post, the city’s retirement systems added or expanded stakes in at least seven firms that were later flagged by U.S. authorities. The Post’s review of public filings found that holdings in companies on the UFLPA list climbed from about $4.8 million in 2022 to roughly $11.1 million by the end of 2025. The outlet also reported that Lander’s investment team bought an additional 96,300 shares of Huafu Fashion in 2023, on top of shares the city already held when he entered office.
Those firms appear on the federal UFLPA Entity List, which creates a rebuttable presumption that goods tied to listed entities are produced with forced labor and cannot be imported unless that presumption is overcome. The Department of Homeland Security’s UFLPA materials list companies added between 2022 and 2025, including names cited in the Post’s review such as Changhong Meiling and Hoshine Silicone Industry. While the designation is aimed at imports and supply-chain risk, it also carries reputational and compliance implications for institutional investors that hold securities in those companies.
What the records show
Per the Post’s reporting, New York City pension accounts invested roughly $7.4 million in Changhong Meiling in 2024, and those holdings brought the city’s position in the firm to several hundred thousand dollars in market value. The Post also pointed to positions, either directly or through investment managers, in Ninestar Corporation, Zijin Mining, Xinjiang Zhongtai Chemical and COFCO Sugar Holding among the flagged companies. Taken together, the documents reviewed by the Post indicate that the city’s exposure to UFLPA-listed firms increased materially during Lander’s tenure as comptroller.
Why it matters for pensions and voters
Advocates and critics say that even relatively small stakes in companies associated with forced-labor concerns can create political and governance problems for funds that serve teachers, first responders and other municipal workers. The five New York City retirement systems reported nearly $295 billion in assets in the 2024–25 period, a reminder that tiny percentage positions can still turn into outsized campaign flashpoints. The comptroller’s office publishes combined asset and performance figures in public reports.
Reporting by amNewYork has also noted that Lander’s teams expanded holdings in other controversial companies during his term, a pattern that critics reference when questioning how political considerations intersect with fiduciary responsibilities.
Political fallout and Lander's response
Lander’s campaign has defended the investments as aligned with fiduciary duty, arguing that trustees and professional managers make decisions in the best interest of the retirement systems and that the office worked to ensure city funds were handled “ethically and wisely.” Opponents counter that the timing and optics are likely to be used against him in a competitive primary that spans downtown Manhattan and Brooklyn, while watchdogs suggest the revelations could spur trustees to more closely examine how external managers handle trade and human-rights-related lists.
The comptroller’s public reports and pension filings are expected to be central documents in any such review. Pension trustees and federal officials who oversee trade and customs have tools to assess whether portfolio managers are exposing plans to UFLPA-related risk, and legal experts say the key questions often involve whether investments were made directly or through pooled or indexed vehicles, and how managers demonstrate compliance with federal rules.
With the June primary on the horizon, the investments give Lander’s rivals a concrete line of attack and hand both voters and pension trustees a fresh set of governance questions to weigh as his congressional campaign moves forward.
