The Massachusetts state pension agency is set to give a huge $815,000 performance bonus package to most of its 25-member staff, including a nearly $100,000 payout to its executive director, despite the fact that the fund sputtered through a fiscal year that ended with a slight loss in value.
The bonuses, which amount to nearly 20 percent of the entire 2012 staff payroll, will come on top of payouts last fall when the Pension Reserves Investment Management board awarded $267,328 in extra pay during a year when the fund also experienced a small loss.
Comments
This board should consider that the average pensioner gets $30k per year. These bonuses are ridiculous.
These bonuses are ridiculous. They serve to encourage risky investments with pensioners' money.
Brainard: " retain a staff who might otherwise be lured to higher-paying jobs in the private sector" Yeah, $60,000/yr secretaries are hard to find. The $18k bonus might just keep her at her desk. Thanks again!
"We are paid on a three-year-basis, and our three years are strong,'' Trotsky said. "It shows we generated $2.6 billion in excess returns.' Excess Returns?? Please.
This is outrageous if these are state employees that have good job security (unlike the private sector investment firms) and a guaranteed taxpayer funded pension upon retirement.
We should not be concerned over losing the talent at the state pension agency. They have managed to record losses two out of the last three years. Forget the bonuses and let them leave for the private sector. We can do better.
It's perfectly reasonable to give bonuses to people charged with making sure the Commonwealth's pension fund actually has money to pay to retired workers now and decades in the future. Why? For one, because they could make a 2-4X multiple doing the same thing for the wealthy in the private sector. For two, it's extraordinarily difficult to take a large pool of money like a pension fund and make it grow at an unreasonable assumed rate of 8% (this number is set by the legislature), which is why you need educated, talented and valuable people to make sure it gets done. For three, these people aren't driving buses, writing parking tickets or collecting toll tokens, they are charged with making sure all those kinds of folks can retire at an unreasonable age and get retirement checks for the next half of their life. For four, if the pension fund can't meet its obligations (i.e., if it isn't run by smart-enough people), the taxpayers foot the bill. So please, bring in the smartest people they can find and pay them what it takes to make the hard math work as best as possible. Some of these posts are reminiscent of the banal populism that is the comments section of boston.com.
Incredible! Disgusting! Outrageous! When do we make sure these pigs get off the trough? GOVERNOR?????? SMMeli: Are you kidding? Who do you work for?
SSSMeli: Since when does the State bring in the brightest and best for the job? They bring in each other. Its a club.
You have GOT to be kidding me. I made about 8% last year, and I considered myself an underperformer. The shouldn't get a bonus, they should get fired.