By Paul Gable
S.C. Treasurer Curtis Loftis has been a watchdog for the taxpaying citizens of South Carolina since he first took office in January 2011.
As a statutory member of the South Carolina Retirement System Investment Commission, Loftis has long criticized the high fees, low performance and lack of transparency associated with South Carolina’s public pension funds.
The high salaries and bonuses paid to top SCRSIC staffers and the rather cozy relationship some appear to have with risky hedge fund investors have all been targets of Loftis’ oversight.
However, South Carolina is not the only state that apparently suffers from close ties between its retirement system investments and hedge funds.
A hedge fund that New Jersey uses for a portion of its pension fund investments and the job the wife of New Jersey Governor Chris Christie was given by that fund is the subject of a recent article in the “International Business Times.”
Loftis is quoted several times in the article being highly critical of the apparent conflict of interest between pension fund investments and the job given to Mary Pat Christie.
As Loftis said, “It smells to high heaven.”
Christie is currently among the first rank of potential Republican candidates for the party’s 2016 presidential nomination. He maintains close ties with S.C. Gov. Nikki Haley including campaigning several times in the state for Haley during her 2014 re-election campaign.
But, you really have to wonder about a guy who will use the benefit of a powerful public position for personal, family gain.
Link to the International Business Times article: http://www.ibtimes.com/new-jersey-paid-fees-mary-pat-christies-firm-after-state-investment-was-terminated-1760682
Speak Up…