This is your daily pension announcement: The Pension War Room™️again sinks into the pond of liquefied hog manure to find a kernel of truth!
@aimcoinvests Annual Report is coming soon! Guaranteed to be interesting reading combined with some salacious details. #AbLeg
For @MarkDWiseman it is an opportunity for him to justify why the AIMCO Board does not release their expenses to the public like every other board in AB.
(some of their investment professionals are rightfully excluded from expense disclosure-not the Board) #AbLeg
For @ewsiddall, it is an opportunity to further distance the org from the prior CEO Kevin's Dec, 2020 Op Ed where he exhorted Albertans to take pride in AIMCO and concluded with gratitude for the...
“vote of confidence the Alberta government has made in AIMCo.”
What's wrong with that? Well, the GOA is actually a minority client of @aimcoinvests. And, while frenetically insisting that @aimcoinvests is independent, fails to mention that Travis appoints and removes all of the Directors. #AbLeg
A minority client with total control.
This is not to say that AIMCo’s current board is incompetent, but rather they are simply not representative of any stakeholders. Professional boards with “blue chip” members, as seen recently with AIMCO's VOLTS losses, can fail to adequately supervise management. #AbLeg
It is time for @MarkDWiseman to comment in the Annual Report as to what he sees is the future for @aimcoinvests structure and governance. #AbLeg
It was very strange for the UCP with about 300 election campaign promises to act arbitrarily without prior consultation, to change key provisions of the Joint Pension Plan Act nowhere mentioned in its platform. #AbLeg#handsoffmyension
Combined with Kevin Uebelein’s extraordinarily weak public defense of AIMCO’s independence, this situation needs to be closely monitored.
This is your daily pension announcement: The Pension War Room™️is again venturing into the moldy root cellar of UCP pension policy. I will bring you some odds and ends that were triggered by Dr. Bob's fantastic paper "Can AIMCO be fixed". #AbLeg#handsoffmypension
In reality, the question is more can Travis and the UCP be fixed?
According to Joe Ceci, joint sponsorship for pensions would take “the politics out of pensions” (Alberta Hansard, 29th Legislature, 4th Session, 2373).
As my loyal army will remember, Travis procured a bill that destroyed the trust with plan members and employee associations that is essential for pension plans to operate. Not public money.
Erin here has this entirely wrong. As I have said before, contribution rates are going down for teachers and GOA this Sept. ONLY BECAUSE OF THE OUTSTANDING RETURNS OF ATRF OVER THE LAST 7-10 YEARS.
@aimcoinvests only took possession of all of @ATRFPension assets last October. In any sane democracy you would not see a government destroy a top quartile investment manager providing employment in their home jurisdiction. #AbLeg
ATRF did a simulation using asset class returns that showed ATRF outperformed AIMCO by $1.3 billion over a seven year period starting in 2013.
This study, which was made public, was NOT EVER CHALLENGED by AIMCo or the Finance Minister’s office. #AbLeg#handsoffmypension
“Given the plans are funded by participating employees and employers and the assets held in the plan belong to the members, it follows that employees and employers should be able to make decisions that will impact these plans.” (Alberta Hansard, 29th Legislature, 4th Ses, 2027)
This statement above is from Jessica Littlewood, MLA for Fort Sask at the time. This supported a joint governance bill that would "take the politics out of pensions". Please note that, much like an RRSP, pension plan assets belong to the employee (as is recognized here). #AbLeg
Travis, of course, had a different idea and engaged Kevin in a course of action to bring politics back into pensions. Smart as a rock.
In the process, trust was lost with all plan members and employee associations. #AbLeg
This is your daily pension announcement: The Pension War Room™️is ramping up activity as we approach D-day: the day that @aimcoinvests releases its Annual Report. We will be looking for several things from this year's tome. #AbLeg#handsoffmypension
We will be looking for Kevin Uebelein's severance "pay" LTIP bonus. He was already paid millions in severance, but apparently (setting a new precedent) he has earned a bonus for this year even though he has not worked. #AbLeg#handsoffmypension
We will be looking for any disinformation and outright lies like this chart from last year. This chart allegedly shows how tragically underpaid @aimcoinvests execs are. Unfortunately, this chart is not normed to assets under management. Misleading at best.
This is your daily pension announcement: The Pension War Room™️reminisces! I just came across my copy of the Nov 30, 2019 Ponoka News Where @RonOrrMLA is busy repeating the UCP line! All the greatest hits like... #AbLeg#handsoffmypension
"...this means that every teacher will get paid a government guaranteed pension until the day they die;"
Well, @RonOrrMLA that just isn't true. The guarantee was removed in 1992. Which makes this decision by Kevin and Travis highly suspect and oppressive. #AbLeg#handsoff
"Their union told them that the ATRF managers had higher returns than AIMCO."
No Ron. Just no. The ATRF WHICH IS A JOINT BODY HALF APPOINTED BY GOA told both the teachers and Travis that ATRF had demonstrably outperformed @aimcoinvests. #AbLeg