Tag: Ryan Parham

Arizona Pension CIO Counters Claims of Being States Worst-Performing System

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Ryan Parham, chief investment officer of the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS), penned a piece in the Arizona Capitol Times on Thursday defending his fund against claims of being Arizona’s “worst-performing pension plan.”

But Parham says the raw return numbers don’t tell the whole story. Here’s what Parham has to say:

All too often, fiction and gossip move faster than truth and reason. As such, it is often stated by our detractors that our $8 billion portfolio is the state’s “worst-performing pension plan,” which gives the impression that our investment staff is incompetent and responsible for the trust’s sagging pension funding levels.

The truth is: the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System has an enviable investment record. Prominent industry consultants rank PSPRS among the top 4 percent of all U.S. pension funds in risk-adjusted returns for the past three years. We also join the top 11 percent of all U.S. pension funds for the past five years. While these facts might not make for a provocative headline, they matter to our beneficiaries, our contributors, our staff and our elected officials.

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Last fiscal year, PSPRS outperformed national risk-adjusted averages by one half of 1 percent. It sounds miniscule, but it meant an additional $380 million in value to the trust. Our actively managed strategy is simple: Diversify assets and reduce exposure to publicly traded equities, the greatest driver of market volatility. High-risk strategies and lack of diversification have proven disastrous for PSPRS, as evidenced by $1 billion losses suffered in the 2000-2001 “dot-com” market crash.

While it is true that in recent years PSPRS’ returns have been less than its sister plan, the Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS), it is important to remember our innovative, low-risk, moderate return strategy is by conscious design, due to a pension benefit that PSPRS alone must pay to pensioners. This benefit, called the Permanent Benefit Increase, or “PBI,” siphons and distributes half of all returns in excess of 9 percent to eligible retirees. Not only are these increased payment levels made permanent, the investment gains only serve to increase – not decrease – unfunded future liabilities.

Read the entire column here.

 

Photo: “Entering Arizona on I-10 Westbound” by Wing-Chi Poon – Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 2.5 via Wikimedia Commons

Arizona Fund Gives CIO Retention Bonus, Contract Extension In Midst Of Federal Investigation

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An Arizona pension fund, already embroiled in controversy, voted yesterday to sign its Chief Investment Officer to a two-year contract extension and gave him a $50,000 retention bonus. That bonus is in addition to a $75,000 bonus the CIO was already scheduled to receive later this year, on top of his $268,000 annual salary.

The move is controversial because the fund—the Public Safety Personnel Retirement System (PSPRS)—is in the midst of a federal criminal investigation over actions that happened under the CIO’s watch.

The fund’s Chief Investment Officer is Ryan Parham.

In January, the FBI began investigating the fund over suspicions that investment staff were inflating the value of real estate investments to trigger performance bonuses.

A federal subpoena, reluctantly released by the fund this week after a court order, indicates the inflated assets had to do with investments made with Desert Troon Companies.

According to the Arizona Republic, Ryan Parham was directly involved with Desert Troon Companies investments.

The Arizona Department of Administration, which approves state contracts, has already voiced its apprehension about Parham’s contract, especially in light on illegal raises given earlier this year by the fund. From the Arizona Republic:

The Arizona Department of Administration, prior to Monday’s vote, formally raised concerns about the contract. However, the state does not have the power to reject it outright. All employment contracts, however, need formal review from ADOA.

Administration Department Director Brian McNeil in a July 31 letter to the trust said he was not giving any “formal consultation” on the contract until the board clarifies its intention to extend Parham’s contract.

The board by a 3-2 vote (with two members absent) on Jan. 15, authorized Hacking to negotiate a contract extension with Parham, but Hacking did not do so. Hacking was forced out on July 16.

The trust submitted Parham’s amended contract to the state two days later.

McNeil said in the letter his department has concerns about the “significant gap” of time between the board’s action and contract submittal. In addition, McNeil said, he’s concerned about “the circumstances surrounding the days/weeks prior” to receiving the contract.

Phoenix City Councilman Sal DiCiccio is calling for the Attorney General’s Office to investigate the raises given by PSPRS over recent months.

“This is insane. They have the worst financial record of any of the (state) funds, and they are giving him a bonus?” said DiCiccio.