State panel hears plans to invest $60M

Legislators complete review of teacher pension proposals

Rep. Jeff Wardlaw, R-Hermitage, is shown at the State Capitol in Little Rock in this file photo.
Rep. Jeff Wardlaw, R-Hermitage, is shown at the State Capitol in Little Rock in this file photo.

The Legislative Council on Friday signed off on the Arkansas Teacher Retirement System's plan to invest up to $60 million in two private-equity turnaround funds.

The council voted to complete its review of the system's proposal to invest up to $30 million in New York-based KPS Capital Partners' KPS Special Situations Fund V. This fund will invest in large manufacturing companies with solvable operating and financial difficulties, system Executive Director Clint Rhoden said in a letter to the council's co-chairmen, Sen. Cecile Bledsoe, R-Rogers, and Rep. Jeff Wardlaw, R-Hermitage.

The council also voted to complete its review of the system's proposal to invest up to $30 million in KPS Capital Partners' KPS Special Situations Mid-Cap Fund. The fund will invest in "middle market" rather than large manufacturing companies, Rhoden said in a letter to the council's co-chairmen.

The system's board of trustees approved these investments during its Sept. 11 meeting and anticipates closing dates on the investments in early October, Rhoden said. At that Sept. 11 meeting, the trustees also voted to appoint Lake Hamilton Superintendent Shawn Higginbotham to fill the vacancy created by the resignation of trustee Jeff Stubblefield, who has retired as the superintendent of the Charleston School District. Higginbotham's term ends June 30, 2021.

The Teacher Retirement System is state government's largest such agency, with more than $17 billion in investments and more than 100,000 working and retired members.

Meanwhile, the Teacher Retirement System's general counsel, Laura Gilson, will start work as the chief legal counsel for the Arkansas Public Employees Retirement System on Monday. Twenty people applied for the job and four applicants were interviewed, said Duncan Baird, executive director of the public employees system.

Gilson's salary in her new job will be $112,953 a year, Baird said Friday. At the Teacher Retirement System, Gilson's salary is $91,936 a year, according to the Arkansas Transparency website. Gilson has worked for the Teacher Retirement System since 2009. She previously was an attorney for the Bureau of Legislative Research, where she drafted retirement bills.

"No decisions have been made at this time for filling the general counsel post," Rhoden said. He said Martha Miller is a full-time attorney who has worked alongside Gilson for several years.

The Public Employees Retirement System is state government's second-largest such agency with more than $8 billion in investments and more than 75,000 working and retired members.

Metro on 09/21/2019

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