The state worker pension money that Christie screwed up has been tallied:
Quote:
Gov. Chris Christie's administration openly acknowledged that more New Jersey taxpayer dollars were going to land in the coffers of major financial institutions...(He)...installed a longtime private equity executive, Robert Grady...(who) promoted a plan to put more of those funds into riskier investments managed by Wall Street firms. Though this would entail higher fees, Grady said the strategy would "maximize returns while appropriately managing risk..."
...New Jersey is now paying a quarter-billion dollars in additional annual fees to Wall Street firms -- many of whose employees have financially supported Republican groups backing Christie's reelection campaign...The state has sent more pension money to big-name Wall Street firms like Blackstone, Third Point, Omega Advisors, Elliott Associates and Grady's old firm, The Carlyle Group...
Grady was not only changing New Jersey's portfolio in ways that benefited many of the donor firms, he was also in close contact with Christie campaign fundraisers. Grady...still maintains an ownership stake in private equity funds managed by (The Carlyle Group), according to New Jersey financial disclosure documents...Grady recused himself from the final votes on...$450 million worth of New Jersey pension investments since Christie took office...and he told IBTimes that pension business was not discussed during his communication with Christie’s campaign.
|
Ah yes, kickbacks, smarmy connections, recusals, conflicts of interest -- same as it ever was. But how does this all translate into what it means for those of us who voted us in?
Quote:
...Between fiscal year 2011 and 2014, the state's pension trailed the median returns for similarly sized public pension systems throughout the country, according to data from (a) financial analysis firm...That below-median performance has cost New Jersey taxpayers billions in unrealized gains and has left the pension system on shaky ground...
Those who originally opposed the state's shifting of pension funds into hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, real estate and other “alternative investments” see the below-average returns as no accident but an inevitable byproduct of the strategy: The Christie administration has effectively taken money from retired state workers and delivered the cash to Wall Street money managers...
Had New Jersey’s pension system simply matched the median rate of return, the state would have reaped roughly $3.8 billion more than it did between fiscal years 2011 and 2014, says pension consultant Chris Tobe. Those unrealized gains represent more than New Jersey’s annual budget for its entire higher education system, and more than 10 times what the state spends each year on environmental protection. It is also more than enough to cover the required pension payment that Christie cut. To make up for that $3.8 billion return-on-investment gap, every household in the state would have to cough up roughly $1,200.
|
When this happens in countries not run by white males, it's called treasury looting. THIS is the act he's trying to take to the White House?