New York City’s pension funds have increased their cash holdings to about 8 percent on average after selling some high-yield bonds and stocks in the past three to six months, said the city’s chief investment officer.

“Usually, we have zero” in cash, Larry Schloss, who oversees about $120 billion of retirement assets, said. “There’s so much uncertainty now. Typically a pension fund would have their liquid assets in the stock market.”

Over a longer horizon, “equity markets are a great place to be,” he said.

The S&P 500 has declined 5.9 percent this year. US high-yield bonds have returned -0.48 percent, according to Bank of America Merrill Lynch.