What happened and who is responsible

We are dismayed and seriously concerned about the statements made by Kenan Knieriem of Merrill Lynch, who supervises the Retirement Fund’s nine money managers, who invested our money in the stock market and lost it with no possible return.

What retirees or pending retirees don’t realize and should be demanding at this point is what happened and who is responsible for such losses? Who is responsible for such gross negligence and mismanagement of one’s contributions toward their future and current pensions.

In our view it is the board of trustees that are ultimately responsible and accountable, including Merrill Lynch. The board is the decision making body of the Retirement Fund and we believe that Mr. Juan Pan Guerrero and his fellow board members have a lot of explaining to do.

Not only do we have pending retirees who are ready to retire, they are on hold due to financial constraints between our government and the Retirement Fund. Merrill Lynch, which lost our investments in the stock market, is not being held accountable and responsible but is now pushing to reduce retirees’ pensions in order to recover from their mistakes and incompetence.

Last year, it was predicted that the Fund’s assets would be depleted in approximately 12 years or so. Judging from the figures that Merrill Lynch presented, the depletion will be in less than eight years.

The entire board of trustees and Merrill Lynch should be investigated immediately, to include the Retirement Fund consultants and comptrollers, as to why and how this whole mess came about.

The future of our current retirees and government employees, who have all contributed faithfully and honestly to the Fund for their future benefits, are now at risk of losing half of their pension due to someone else’s incompetence. The other concern is, does the Retirement Fund have liability insurance from Merrill Lynch covering the lost investments in the stock market? Or is this the type of investment they call “invest-at-your-own-risk-and-worry-about-the-retirees-concerns-later.”

Everyone must be mindful that Sections 20 of the Constitution clearly states that “membership in an employee retirement system of the Commonwealth shall constitute a contractual relationship. Accrued benefits of this system shall be neither diminished nor impaired.”