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A leading pension investigator claims that under Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz — Vice President Kamala Harris’ recently tapped running mate pick — the state’s public school teachers’ retirement system is manipulating financial reports by significantly understating annual fees paid to Wall Street investment managers, and showing unrealistically high returns, the New York Post first reported.
Edward Siedle, an independent pension investigator, alleges that the state-run Teachers Retirement Association (TRA) has only revealed less than 10% of the $2.9 billion in fees it spent over the last decade. He also criticized TRA for reporting gains that barely exceed its own benchmarks by 0.2%, which he described to The Post as “virtually impossible.”
“Even Bernie Madoff didn’t claim to beat the market every single year — and certainly not by the exact same percentage,” Siedle said, and called the TRA performance a “Madoff miracle under Walz’s watch.”
The late financier Madoff orchestrated the largest investment fraud in Wall Street history, and pleaded guilty in 2009 to running a Ponzi scheme that swindled thousands out of their life savings.
JD VANCE ACCUSES TIM WALZ OF ‘LYING’ ABOUT MILITARY SERVICE: ‘STOLEN VALOR GARBAGE’
Democratic presidential nominee Vice President Kamala Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, arrive at a campaign rally in Philadelphia. (AP Photo/Matt Rourke)
Walz, who has been serving as chairman of the Minnesota State Retirement System since January 2019, oversees $140 billion in state employee funds, including $28.2 billion for teachers, the outlet reported.
“I don’t know if the man had any pre-existing knowledge of finance or pensions, but as chairman, he should have educated himself,” Siedle said. “Pension board members have a fiduciary duty to monitor fees, and to ensure that the investments’ performance is accurately disclosed.”
Katie Dickerson, a teacher nearing retirement, testified in February that despite high…
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