Administration December 9, 2003

Private Equity Firm Settles Nutmeg State Dispute

September 24, 2002 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - A Dallas-based fund-of-funds manager will pay the Connecticut state pension fund a total of $347 million as part of a settlement to a dispute over distributed investment profits.
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According to a Wall Street Journal report, Crossroads Group has agreed to pay $297 million to the Connecticut fund on top of a $49.5 million payment already made.

The WSJ said the agreement effectively ends a three-year battle over how much in profits Crossroads, a private-equity firm, turned over to its investors. State officials charged that the Texas company halted profit distributions in 1999 and had improperly reinvested the rest of the profits earned on Connecticut’s money without the fund’s permission.

In a statement, Connecticut State Treasurer Denise Nappier, the sole trustee of the $19-billion state retirement system, called the deal “an excellent result.” A spokesman for Crossroads also lauded the agreement.

The WSJ story said Connecticut’s pension fund first invested $300 million with Crossroads in 1987. The fund had received $525.4 million in distributions leading up to 1999 when the distributions stopped, according to the state.

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