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MA Town Turning Well-Run Pension over to State
A Dow Jones news report said officials decided to turn over management of the Wellesley Contributory Retirement System to the Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management (PRIM) board so Wellesley could enjoy more access to a greater array of investment options.
Wellesley was among the leading local Massachusetts pension funds with a 16.23% 2006 return; last year, PRIM recorded a 16.72% return. The Wellesley fund has $144 million in assets while PRIM has $50 billion.
“We are 110% funded and have the best returns in the state, but we thought it was time to capitalize on successes,” David Kornwitz,Wellesley ‘s board chairman, told Dow Jones. “The state fund offers us greater oversight, diversification across asset classes and access to certain types of investments without an increase in cost structure.”
Massachusetts last month passed a law that requires underperforming local funds to transfer their assets to the state fund (See MA Legislature Approves Measure to Give State Control of Ailing Local Pensions ).