This is your daily pension announcement: The Management Employees Pension Plan edition! Unlike the teachers' plan, MEPP only has one sponsor namely Travis. So he can (and does) make unilateral decisions here. (Fun fact, AIMCO managers used to be members of this plan.) ##ABleg
First important fact, is that it is almost 2021 and they have not yet posted their 2019 Annual Report. Interesting choice. If you were a member of the plan you might want to inquire as to why that is. #ABLeg#travisfail#hidesomething
Next, I know this question is on your mind, how badly did the VOLTS debacle affect MEPP? Take a look @premiamgmt it is not pretty. #ABLeg#AIMCOfail
Take a look at the long term 8 year value add, it is NEGATIVE (-0.55%). I truly agree that things like COVID can give you short term bumps in the road. But this lets you know how exposed this fund was to VOLTS. #ABLeg#manthatsucks
So you could have fired all the investment managers 8 years ago, indexed the lot and still come out ahead today and for what appears to be several more years in the future. #ABLeg
MEPP is in an excellent funded position, so no worries about that.
The above includes reason alone to part ways with Kevin. Never mind the AIMCO Stupid business case where they suggest they will bring the cost of investment for ATRF down to 58 basis points. #ABLeg
In 2018 (the most recent year available) the cost of AIMCO investment management for MEPP was 70 basis points. Which is barely any savings over the long term cost projection of ATRF of 71-73 bps. Is someone going to take responsibility for this little fib? Kevin? #ABLeg
Any MEPP members with questions feel free to DM me. I will do my best provide insight.
Another fun fact, the TBF business case has no date on it but was written after the fact. AND it has typos in it. Pretty weird for an official GOA document. #ABLeg
I will also make my prediction about the next CEO at AIMCO: most likely male from an Eastern financial center like Toronto or New York. It won't be anyone from the current executive team. Could carry a Canadian passport but will more likely be an American carpetbagger. #ABLeg
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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.
This is your daily pension announcement:
Remember when Travis was shit talking public sector pensions?
“Public service pensions are paid for by Alberta taxpayers."
He neglected to mention that GOA makes less than half the contributions. #ABLeg
He also failed to mention that, in the case of teachers, GOA didn't even make their contributions from 1957 to 1992. Contributions they were legally obligated to make, I might add.
Travis was clearly unaware of these facts. I hope he has learned from this experience. #ABLeg
He also neglected to opine as to why forcing the pension plans to use an under-performing investment manager was a good idea.
It would be great if some teachers could write to him and ask these questions as he refuses to be interviewed on this topic. #ABLeg
"Alberta Investment Management Corp. CEO Kevin Uebelein is on his way out, having led the public fund as it lost billions on wayward volatility trades and became the center of bitter political battles between the province’s far-right government and its own unionized clients."
No one has encapsulated so much with so few words. Even to generally right leaning institutional investors our good ol' 'berta qualifies as a far-right govt.
As I have previously opined, Kevin's major error was putting himself at the center of a political decision. #ABLeg
This is your daily pension announcement, the Alberta Fiscal Update edition! As you probably well know, Travis provided the Fiscal update available below. TL:dr is okay, I will bring you the naughty bits. #ABLeg open.alberta.ca/publications/6…
First, from the update Travis opines:
"Government obligations for pension plan liabilities are $415 million lower, mainly from improved valuations for the two Teachers’ Pension Plans. Other liabilities have decreased $567 million."
That's right, great investment returns from ATRF have made Travis $415 million. That should give any Minister of Finance pause. Like don't move the management over to AIMCO kind of pause. Travis is in a financial bind and is turning his nose up at future cash. #ABLeg#idiot
The Pension War Room™️ is relieved. After all, I have referred to Kevin as "dead man walking" for some time now. Glad the lawyers involved could get this done. A couple of thoughts: #ABLeg
First, don't worry about Kevin, he will be fine. He currently is mid-contract so the the severance payment is likely to be in the millions. He made $2.8 mil last year and $3.5 mil the year before that. #ABLeg
If Travis gives you some absurdly low number for this severance payment, don't believe him. (often people don't include accrued LTIP payouts in severance calc)
The Pension War Room™️ would like to note some whoppers about public sector pay are being passed around. #AbLeg
I wanted to provide this older (2014) critique of the Fraser Institute. It mirrors my own comments on this topic. albertapolitics.ca/2014/08/the-re…
The materially unreliable Fraser Institute seeps into everything from Gunter's column in the Edmonton Sun ("public sector employees should be happy with pay cut") to GOA reports. He quotes some stats, I think they were from the Fraser Institute. He doesn't say. #ABLeg
Heck even the KPMG in the MacKinnon report quotes Fraser.
My point is garbage in=garbage out. In their free market zeal enforced by their corporate overlords they make few (if any) data supported conclusions. #ABLeg