TURNER AND GUSCIORA CALL FOR GREATER ACCOUNTABILITY OF PENSION FUND MANAGEMENT

(TRENTON) - Senator Shirley Turner (D-Lawrence) and Assemblyman Reed Gusciora (D-Princeton) are drafting legislation to create quarterly reporting requirements for the Department of Treasury to share information about the State's pension fund management.

"There has been a lot of discussion lately about how our New Jersey pension fund is being managed.  The problem is taxpayer money is spread out over many portfolios handled by private money managers and state pension fund managers," said Turner.  "We need to know what investors and investments are doing well, so we can get a solid return."

In the past four months, the New Jersey pension fund has lost roughly 20% of its value.  It was also reported that certain hedge funds received additional state investments, even though the funds were not doing well.  These investments in hedge funds are just one part of the State's "alternative investments," designed to give a larger return but have risks attached.

"Everyone understands that the stock market and overall economy are suffering and no one is expecting large growth in our investments," explained Gusciora.  "But the goal should be to reduce our risk so when crashes occur, large amounts of state money are not lost."

The legislators are proposing legislation to require a quarterly report from the Department of Treasury to the Legislature which would breakdown a comparison of gains and losses from private money managers and state pension funds mangers, as well as a breakdown of all investment strategies.  This information would be used to determine if the state should discontinue the use of private investors and "alternative investments" and return to traditional investment strategies.

"The State has an obligation to provide the best return possible on its investments, even in tough economic times.  By having information available about the benefits and risks of using outside investors and high risk investments, we can help mitigate the dangers and pitfalls," concluded Gusciora. 

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