By Paul Gable
It seems the SC Public Pension Fund can’t help but make news. Unfortunately, most of it is not good.
In a recent article by asset international’s Chief Investment Officer magazine, the New York City and SC public pension funds were highlighted.
Both New York City and South Carolina spent approximately $500 million in fees last year and both are drawing considerable criticism for expending such amounts for public pension fund management.
We all know South Carolina hates being compared to how they do things in New York.
Not to worry, the comparison ends with the amount being expended for management fees in each fund and the uproar such expenditures are causing.
The New York City public pension fund has approximately $144 billion in assets while South Carolina has $27 billion. New York City received a 12.2% return on investments last year with South Carolina realizing a 9.9% return.
While both spend approximately the same actual amount in fees, New York City’s fund assets are over five times as large as South Carolina’s and its return is 33% better.
This is exactly what SC Treasurer Curtis Loftis has been criticizing for the past three years while officials at the SC Retirement System Investment Commission, the public agency that oversees the fund investments, have tried various methods to silence him.
While cronyism is part of the criticism in New York City, South Carolina’s good ole boy system appears to be five times as bad.
We don’t care how they do it in New York but, they get better results.
Link to the full article: http://www.ai-cio.com/channel/manager_selection/half_a_billion_in_fees__how_two_us_public_pensions_spent_it.html?terms=loftis
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