Latest news with #RetirementandInvestmentOffice
Yahoo
07-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill requiring Legacy Fund disclosure website sees support in North Dakota Legislature
Rep. Bernie Satrom, R-Jamestown, speaks on the House floor on March 25, 2025. (Michael Achterling/North Dakota Monitor) The state may soon start development on a new website detailing its Legacy Fund holdings after the North Dakota Senate last week unanimously passed an investment transparency bill. The Legacy Fund, worth more than $12 billion as of January, is a state trust fund supported by oil revenue. It was created by a ballot measure approved by voters in 2010 with the goal of being a source of perpetual revenue for the state. House Bill 1319, sponsored by Rep. Bernie Satrom, R-Jamestown, says the website must include all Legacy Fund 'companies, funds and other financial mechanisms in which the Legacy Fund is invested,' so long as the information may be disclosed under state and federal law. 'Some people don't care what they're invested in,' Satrom said in February testimony on the bill before the House Finance and Taxation Committee. 'To me, it matters.' The North Dakota Retirement and Investment Office estimated the cost for the website at about $421,000, according to a fiscal note attached to the bill. It said it would cost around $27,500 annually to maintain the website. The House in February approved the bill by a vote of 92-1. The Retirement and Investment Office also supports the bill. Interim Executive Director Jodi Smith said that the agency already shares a wealth of information online about the fund, but a new website could make it more straightforward for members of the public to digest. 'I feel like all that language and information is on our website, but if you've been on our website and try to find it all, it can be a bit cumbersome,' Smith said. 'It's not easy to navigate.' The office expects the website to save both state employees and members of the public a lot of time and effort. Smith said that about a third of records requests filed with the Retirement and Investment Office relate to the Legacy Fund. The agency has dedicated thousands of dollars worth of staff time to fulfilling the records requests, she said. Getting a website up and running will take a long time, Smith said. The agency hopes to have an interface similar to one that Norway uses for its sovereign wealth fund, which allows visitors to sort all of its investments by country. 'It might take us a couple of years to get there,' she said. The Retirement and Investment Office already discloses how much Legacy Fund money is invested in particular companies, Smith said. However, for a portion of the money invested in commingled funds, the agency does not disclose which investments are made by specific fund managers. Smith said this would violate the agency's contracts with those managers. About $3.1 billion of the Legacy Fund is in these commingled funds, also known as institutional funds. 'We can't reveal a fund manager's investment strategy,' she said. Bismarck attorney Tory Jackson last year asked for the North Dakota Attorney General's Office to weigh in on whether the Retirement and Investment Office violated public records laws by withholding this information. Gov. Kelly Armstrong during his campaign for governor advocated for more transparency with Legacy Fund investments. He is now chair of the State Investment Board. Another Legacy Fund-related bill sponsored by Satrom, House Bill 1330, would instruct the State Investment Board to divest from all Chinese companies. The Senate has yet to vote on the bill. SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
In case you missed it in The Sun the week of Feb. 10, 2025
Feb. 15—The following stories from this week appeared on and in The Jamestown Sun. About 70 family members and friends surprised a 15-year-old girl on Friday, Feb. 7, when Make-A-Wish North Dakota granted her wish at Buffalo Grill in Jamestown. Bria Truax was granted a customized wheelchair with tracks that she will use to spend time with her family. Bria enjoys being outdoors, said her father, Ron Truax. The Truaxes live at rural Jamestown. He said there's a half-mile walking trail nearby. Lisa Truax, Bria's mother, said the family is active outdoors and enjoys camping. "Bria with her lack of being able to walk it's just going to enable her to join in on the family fun and live in the country," she said. When Bria was born, she was missing part of her fourth chromosome, Lisa said. "It's affected her development, she's had a lot of seizures, pretty big seizures which further affected her development," she said. Lisa said Bria doesn't walk or talk and struggles a little to sit. Despite all that, she said Bria is really happy and loves interacting with people. "The personality is still exploding and happy," she said. The North Dakota House Government and Veterans Affairs Committee gave a do not pass recommendation on Thursday, Feb. 6, on a bill that would repeal a section in the North Dakota Century code related to an incentive compensation plan for the state Retirement and Investment Office. Rep. Bernie Satrom, R-Jamestown, vice chairman of the House and Government and Veterans Affairs Committee, was the lone dissenting vote. Satrom and Reps. Mitch Ostlie, both R-Jamestown, and Mike Beltz, R-Hillsboro, introduced House Bill 1348, which would also amend North Dakota Century Code 54-44.3-20 by removing investment and fiscal operations positions of the Retirement and Investment Office from being exempt from the state employee classification system. The passage of HB 1348 would repeal an incentive compensation program that could allow the top officials in the North Dakota Retirement and Investment Office (RIO) to earn up to 100% of their salaries as incentive compensation although RIO officials said that might not happen every year. The annual salaries for the RIO executive director and chief investment officer are $237,400 and $312,000, respectively. The North Dakota Senate Transportation Committee unanimously voted to attach a do not pass recommendation to Senate Bill 2391 Thursday, Feb. 6. The bill, introduced by Sen. Terry Wanzek, R-Jamestown, would have transferred ownership and responsibility of Stutsman County Road 62 from the county to the state of North Dakota. County Road 62 stretches about 18 miles from Interstate 94 at Spiritwood south to North Dakota Highway 46, according to Leroy Siebert, site manager for the Stutsman County Road Department. "It is about half paved, which was chip sealed about two years ago," Siebert said. "The rest is gravel. We try to maintain that twice a week in the summer." The road is a major route for corn and soybeans hauled from the south to the Spiritwood Energy Park Association's industrial park at Spiritwood where Dakota Spirit AgEnergy, a corn-based ethanol plant, and Green Bison Soy Processing, a soybean-crushing plant, are located. "In the fall when there is harvest, it gets a lot of traffic," Siebert said. The Jamestown/Stutsman Development Corp. Board of Directors unanimously approved on Monday, Feb. 10, an increase to the CEO's salary . Jeremy Rham, president of the JSDC board, said an annual review was completed for CEO Corry Shevlin. He said the board gave him a high score on the review. "Above average and outstanding is where pretty much everything fell, which would be the top two criteria," he said. Shevlin's annual salary was increased by 6%, which is in line with the approved budget. His annual salary is now $126,000. His salary increase was backdated to Jan. 1. The process of matching the staff of Washington Elementary School to possible openings in other schools within the Jamestown Public School District has begun, according to Superintendent Rob Lech. The Jamestown Public School Board approved closing Washington Elementary at the end of the current school year during its Jan. 20 meeting. Beginning in the 2025-26 school year, the Jamestown Public School District will operate four elementary schools with seven elementary classrooms of each grade level for K-5. The Jamestown Public School administration is currently questioning the staff of Washington about their preferences for placement in other positions within the district. "So when we do place staff," Lech said, "we do it purposefully." Lech said it is unlikely the school district can place every Washington staff member in the same position in another elementary school, but administration hoped to work with them to find positions they would be comfortable with. Lech said the 32 staff members at Washington represent about 8 percent of the 400 staff people employed by the Jamestown Public School District. Two events on Saturday, March 15, are expected to draw many people to Jamestown. The 46th annual Runnin O' the Green — a pub crawl — and Legends of Rock Concert — a benefit concert — are expected to bring thousands of people to Jamestown. Michael Ebertz, chairman of the Legends of Rock Concert, said the March 15 date was the day that was available for all the artists participating in the concert. "It's going to be fantastic because I know we'll be kind of dovetailing on the folks that will be participating in that (Runnin O' the Green)," he said. "We will have that to do during the daytime, and then obviously the best rock-and-roll event you could imagine at the Civic Center that night. Larry Knoblich, founder of the Run, said people could participate in the Run earlier in the day and make a donation to the event and go to the concert. If everything goes well, he said he expects hotels to be booked out and restaurants and bars to be very busy on March 15. Ebertz said the Legends of Rock Concert is a benefit concert for St. John's Academy but Jamestown is the real beneficiary. "We're going to have, I think well over 2,200 people or maybe in the 3,000s so we're hoping this year bringing that many people into the city for this event," he said. "Just think of all the restaurants, the hotels, the gas stations, the retail stores, you name it who are going to be benefiting from this. It's just a huge economic multiplier effect for the whole city and meant for all of Stutsman County." The James River Valley Library System Board of Directors will meet at 2:30 p.m. March 12 before its regularly scheduled meeting to discuss proposals on the dissolution process for the joint library services between the city of Jamestown and Stutsman County. City Administrator Sarah Hellekson, a county appointed member to the library board, said on Wednesday, Feb. 12, that she and Stutsman County Auditor/Chief Operating Officer Jessica Alonge, a city appointed member to the library board, came up with a couple of ideas on how to handle library services for the county, She said they want to present proposals on how to handle the dissolution of joint library services. "When it talks about dissolution, it's this board's authority to decide how the dissolution is done and then it's laid out how the priorities are," Alonge said, referring to the memorandum of agreement between the city of Jamestown and Stutsman County to provide joint library services. "If it can't be agreed upon by this board, then we go to the city and county for approval of it."
Yahoo
10-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Bill to repeal RIO incentive compensation program gets do not pass recommendation
Feb. 10—JAMESTOWN — The North Dakota House Government and Veterans Affairs Committee gave a do not pass recommendation on Thursday, Feb. 6, on a bill that would repeal a section in the North Dakota Century code related to an incentive compensation plan for the state Retirement and Investment Office. Rep. Bernie Satrom, R-Jamestown, vice chairman of the House and Government and Veterans Affairs Committee, was the lone dissenting vote. Satrom and Reps. Mitch Ostlie, both R-Jamestown, and Mike Beltz, R-Hillsboro, introduced House Bill 1348, which would also amend North Dakota Century Code 54-44.3-20 by removing investment and fiscal operations positions of the Retirement and Investment Office from being exempt from the state employee classification system. The passage of HB 1348 would repeal an incentive compensation program that could allow the top officials in the North Dakota Retirement and Investment Office (RIO) to earn up to 100% of their salaries as incentive compensation although RIO officials said that might not happen every year. The annual salaries for the RIO executive director and chief investment officer are $237,400 and $312,000, respectively. Rep. Vicky Steiner, R-Dickinson, said she appreciates Ostlie for bringing HB 1348 forward. "I think when something goes through budget section and that is actually our own problem is being legislators is it's very difficult to find out the budget section heard this and what it meant and doesn't get back to all of us and you are thinking there are four people involved and not 20," she said. "But when you hear the explanation today, it's pretty obvious that it's being vetted very well. So I feel comfortable that it's being vetted." Rep. Austen Schauer, R-West Fargo, chairman of the Government and Veterans Affairs Committee, said there was a lack of communication between legislators about the development of the incentive compensation program. He said he wasn't sure if the incentive compensation program should be repealed or opened up for further review. The documents of the incentive compensation program say it is designed to help attract and retain talented investment professionals. The program is also designed to help RIO earn the highest possible investment returns at a reasonable cost and at controlled levels of risk and rewards long-term investment performance. During the 2023 legislative session, the state Legislature authorized the Retirement and Investment Office to develop an incentive compensation program for its investment and fiscal operations positions necessary for the management of funds under the control of the State Investment Board. North Dakota Century Code Chapter 54-52.5 says that the North Dakota Retirement and Investment Office may develop an incentive compensation program for full-time-equivalent investment and fiscal operations positions necessary for the management of the investment of funds under the control of the State Investment Board. The State Investment Board must approve annually the provisions of the program. Nineteen of the 34 RIO employees are eligible for the incentive compensation program, said Jodi Smith, RIO interim executive director. The incentive compensation program provides incentive compensation as a percentage of regular compensation with 80% of the incentive compensation based on the financial performance of the investments and 20% based on individual goals, according to the Retirement and Investment Office's budget No. 190 for SB 2022. If the three-year rolling average return of the investments exceeds the benchmark return by 0.5%, 100% of the incentive compensation based on financial performance is available to the employees, the document says. The maximum incentives as a percentage of regular compensation are as follows: * 100% for the chief investment officer and executive director * 90% for the deputy chief investment officer * 75% for the chief risk officer, senior investment officers, and portfolio managers * 60% for the chief financial officer * 50% for investment officers, risk officers and accounting managers * 25% for senior investment accountants and investment accountants Plan participation is determined based on employment status and the executive director's assessment of the position's impact on the Retirement and Investment Office's overall investment performance. "The 100% down to 25% seems to be a little bit max, but we don't really know the going rate ... ," Schauer said. "So I don't know if it's like we just cut it out completely, or we just open the door for further review on what we're doing." Those who oppose HB 1348 say the incentive compensation program was needed to recruit and retain employees for RIO and to incentivize them to perform on their investments. "In their industry, that's what they're accustomed to," Smith said. "That's how they're set up a lot of times in their industry to perform as they have that base salary, and then they get that incentive compensation. So from that perspective, for those individuals, they are under market." She said RIO could lose employees to other states that have a higher base salary for similar positions. Having internal investment managers saves RIO about $17 million per year for internally managing 15% of the state's assets, Smith said. Ostlie, who spoke in favor of the bill, said the incentive compensation program that was approved by the State Investment Board was different from what he recalled would happen. "When I asked many other legislators for clarification of this, they couldn't remember this either and/or they said that it probably should have maybe been vetted just a little bit more," he said. Steiner said she agrees with Ostlie and was also surprised about the details of the incentive compensation program. "I didn't realize that it was that extensive," she said. "I remember when we talked about it, I thought it was just going to be a couple of fund managers that we had to incentivize just like the private market, and it's much larger than that, so it's definitely a concern." Rep. Keith Kempenich, R-Bowman, who spoke against HB 1348, said the communication between legislators about the incentive compensation program could have been better. "I'm not going to argue that point," he said. Ostlie said the incentive compensation program should be repealed and replaced with a new one that is vetted by the Legislature. He said Gov. Kelly Armstrong is now the new chair the State Investment Board. "It would allow their input into this process, and then also the full legislative body here would have maybe a little more input than what we had the last time or if nothing changes, at least we are a little bit more aware of what we did," he said. Smith said the State Investment Board should get an opportunity to fix the incentive compensation program. She said Armstrong asked for a review of the program. "Allow them that opportunity because you can see the State Investment Board, and this is in the policy, reserves the right to modify, terminate and or rescind any or all of the compensation schedules, provisions, policies and procedures contained in this and supporting documents at any time," she said. Ostlie said about 20 positions that were declassified are eligible for the incentive compensation program, including the executive director and chief investment officer. "I do not believe that all of these other classes of employees were intended by the last Legislature to be on this new comp plan," he said. He said he understands the need to declassify some RIO employees from the state employee classification system. "Everybody I talked to thought the list was expanded quite a bit larger than what was intended," he said. Section 3 of SB 2022 during the 2023 legislative session amended North Dakota Century Code Section 54-44.3-20 to exempt investment and fiscal operations positions of the Retirement and Investment Office staff from the state employee classification system. Smith said the original intent was to reclassify those employees and put them at a higher level of classification. "They were denied those reclassifications to be able to bring their salary levels up because they have a very specialized skill set within the agency," she said. "So the agency's response to being able to bring on the team members at the level that we need to bring them on then was to unclassify them." State Treasurer Thomas Beadle, who spoke against the bill, said there was opposition to the incentive compensation program on the State Investment Board when it got approved. "Primarily a couple of other agency heads to serve on the state investment board," he said. "They were concerned that they might lose fiscal staff who might think that this is more attractive and they want to jump shift to a different agency, so they dissented in their votes." The State Investment Board approved in a 10-3 vote the incentive compensation program in February. Board members Adam Miller, Joe Morrissette, who is the director for the North Dakota Office of Management and Budget, and Susan Sisk were opposed. The incentive compensation plan allows more than just the investment advisers to be eligible for the plan and includes the executive director and the fiscal team of the Retirement and Investment Office, Morrissette told The Jamestown Sun in November. All employees in RIO are not eligible for the plan, he said. He also told The Sun that he was against the structure of the bonus system because the plan awards a bonus at one basis point of performance that exceeds the benchmark. "A basis point is a 100th of a percent," he said. "That seemed like too small of a margin for me. I felt like there should be a larger gap between the benchmark and what our performance is before we started awarding bonuses."
