Thread by @yomeeks

This is your daily pension announcement. The SFPP edition! I will include some comments about this pension plan, some of the comments are mine some are not.

SFPP you will remember is the pension plan that covers municipal police officers (ie. not RCMP) across AB. #ABLeg

Data from 2019 suggests that Alberta’s public sector pension plans make up 10.79% of the active workforce. Not "a small number" as put by Travis.
#ABLeg

Travis sez "economies of scale":
SFPP (like many plans) is administered by the provincial pension administrator, Alberta Pensions Services Corporation. SFPP’s administration cost per member is $235. ATRF is self-administered at $84 per member, and UAPP @ $124 per member. #ABLeg.

Economies of scale are not occurring under this structure, despite APS serving a larger membership basis.

Keep in mind this is admin not investment costs. But this should cause anyone with a reasonable intellect to question economies of scale. #ABLeg

If my memory serves, an SFPP Corporation study concluded that AIMCo’s fees are comparable to external managers. #suckonthattravis

AIMCo has issues with alignment of goals and dis-economies of scale. #ABLeg

As AIMCo has non-pension fund clients, its strategy is aligned more closely with an investment fund (focusing on returns) as opposed to a pension fund manager (focusing on the liabilities). This is a problem that deserves careful study before changes. #ABLeg

Travis sez AIMCO is an out-performer:

AIMCo has met the SFPP four-year rolling active-management target four times in the last ten years. AIMCo’s active management has failed to meet the SFPP's expectation on a consistent basis. #ABLeg

This, of course, suggests you should get rid of all your investment managers and index the lot at a much lower cost. #ABLeg

Travis sez give Kevin more pay!
AIMCo does not share the same risk appetite as the pension plan clients it serves. This can be seen by the cyclical nature of the losses experienced in downturns such as the global financial crisis of 2008 and the current COVID-19 pandemic. #ABLeg

AIMCo’s performance (not just costs) is important as 75%
of each dollar of pension comes from investment returns.

Meanwhile, the pension plans have no AIMCO Board representation. Board appointments are made at the whim of @jkenney and Travis. #ABLeg #thisiswrong

The over-sight over AIMCO is weak at best. Most of their clients are pension plans yet I fruitlessly search for pension exp on the Board.

These plans have picked up half of the liabilities of the plans. Maybe it is time to give those back to Travis. #ABLeg

Travis sez we want to be like BC:

BCIMC's board is composed of seven directors, four of which are appointed from each of the four major public sector pension plans. The remaining three are appointed by the minister, two of which must represent other BC Investment clients. #ABLeg

Travis sez scale!
Ontario pension plans, such HOOPP, OMERS, CAAT, and Ontario Teachers, all manage investment management in-house. Ontario’s pension plans generally are better funded and have lower contribution rates than their Albertan counterpart plans. #milburned #ABLeg

One must ask Travis (and his primary advisor):
If additional economies of scale could be achieved, why has Ontario not centralized pension administration services and investment management services for these public sector plans? #ABLeg

Travis sez public sector pension plans are guaranteed by the government!

Not so. For SFPP, look to the Joint Governance Act. The public sector pension plans are not guaranteed by the Alberta Government. This is evidenced in Schedule 3 Part 3 Section 24 (2) of the Act. #ABLeg

Which only leaves me to conclude that Travis had other motives here. Which he refuses to acknowledge. If you are a member of SFPP consider making your feelings known to AIMCO and beyond. #ABLeg