The state pension fund manages $14 billion in retirement savings for 340,000 public employees. Between 2020 and 2024, its trustees approved a series of high-risk alternative investments that have since lost an estimated $800 million in value.
What the fund's beneficiaries didn't know: in the weeks before each investment approval, several trustees received payments — consulting fees, speaking honoraria, and "advisory retainers" — from the same firms whose products they were about to approve.
The Pattern
The Public Record reviewed five years of trustee financial disclosures, fund board minutes, and payment records obtained through public records requests. In 11 of 14 high-risk investment approvals reviewed, at least one trustee had received payment from the investment firm within 90 days of the vote.
Board Resolution 2021-44: Approval of $120M allocation to Vantage Capital Partners. Vote: 7-2. Trustee disclosures filed within 90 days of vote: 3 of 7 approving trustees received payments from Vantage Capital or affiliated entities totaling $187,000.