What One Teamster Found Investigating His Failing Pension Fund

[jimmy g]

Dead New York Teamsters Local 707 Pension Will Not Be Autopsied
https://www.forbes.com/sites#/sites...7-pension-will-not-be-autopsied/#4c83e5194978

(From the article) Louis Alimena, former President of the Local 707 Teamsters, a trucking and warehouse workers union, and former trustee of the Local 707 Pension Health Welfare Funds IBT told me, “Many of these Teamsters multiemployer pensions could have locked in an 8 percent return for fifteen years on assets when the pensions were already overfunded in 2000. Instead they chose to take unnecessary risks hiring active equity investment managers. That worked just fine for Wall Street but killed our pensions. I’ve asked the Department of Labor to investigate but the DOL is doing nothing.”

Operative word. CHOSE. There's no investigation needed to find blame. The Fund CHOSE irresponsibility and the easy path that supposedly would make them rich, and lost the money. It's not Government's job to find anything, in this case.

 

[henry j]

(From the article) Louis Alimena, former President of the Local 707 Teamsters, a trucking and warehouse workers union, and former trustee of the Local 707 Pension Health Welfare Funds IBT told me, “Many of these Teamsters multiemployer pensions could have locked in an 8 percent return for fifteen years on assets when the pensions were already overfunded in 2000. Instead they chose to take unnecessary risks hiring active equity managers. That worked just fine for Wall Street but killed our pensions. I’ve asked the Department of Labor to investigate but the DOL is doing nothing.”

Operative word. CHOSE. There's no investigation needed to find blame. The Fund CHOSE irresponsibility and the easy path that supposedly would make them rich, and lost the money. It's not Government's job to find anything, in this case.

Yes the FUND chose - more specially Nyhan and his tight knit group of investment "experts" at CSPF, chose to go with the high risk equity managers instead of much more stable and guaranteed return funds. Nyhan was first hired for his "expertise" in fund management in 2001-2002. Shortly after, he lost over $2 billion in CSPF assets. Fast forward to 2008-09, he lost nearly $10 billion more in CSPF assets, including the $7.2 billion in cash paid out by UPS to exit the fund, that Hoffa gave to Nyhan and the fund. Now this idiot is still in his job some 7+ years later being paid $694,000 per year (plus perks). Why? At the very least, this guy should have been fired years ago - but realistically he should be in jail for gross mismanagement, failure to do his fiduciary duties and possible corruption. Instead, he just goes on and on - even refusing to submit any additional plan at the last meeting recently with retirees' representatives. What is he getting paid for?
Aside from that, where was the Congressional Oversight Committees that were first formed in 1972 and later to "oversee" the CSPF and the IBT after the previous fund was used as a "piggy bank" by the Mob in Las Vegas. The "Oversight Committees" were put in place to make sure no more corruption, mismanagement and draining of the fund would happen again like it did prior to the '70's. Instead they did nothing. Nyhan and his predecessors just went on as before, using the fund as their (and the IBT's) convenient ATM cash machine. Even in January 2015 a NYC Federal judge, Loretta Preska, ruled that there was no longer any corruption going on in the IBT and thereby ended a Consent Decree that began inn 1989 to oversee, and put an end to, the corruption in the IBT, it's Locals and I would assume also it's previously proven "cash cow" the CSPF..
Was this Fed Judge just stupid, seriously uninformed or just paid off? You choose. Anybody with at least 2 brain cells still working knows the corruption is still widespread in the Teamsters, from top to bottom. There are few locals that are not in lock-step with whatever Hoffa wants.

 

[jimmy g]

Yes the FUND chose - more specially Nyhan and his tight knit group of investment "experts" at CSPF, chose to go with the high risk equity managers instead of much more stable and guaranteed return funds. Nyhan was first hired for his "expertise" in fund management in 2001-2002. Shortly after, he lost over $2 billion in CSPF assets. Fast forward to 2008-09, he lost nearly $10 billion more in CSPF assets, including the $7.2 billion in cash paid out by UPS to exit the fund, that Hoffa gave to Nyhan and the fund. Now this idiot is still in his job some 7+ years later being paid $694,000 per year (plus perks). Why? At the very least, this guy should have been fired years ago - but realistically he should be in jail for gross mismanagement, failure to do his fiduciary duties and possible corruption. Instead, he just goes on and on - even refusing to submit any additional plan at the last meeting recently with retirees' representatives. What is he getting paid for?
Aside from that, where was the Congressional Oversight Committees that were first formed in 1972 and later to "oversee" the CSPF and the IBT after the previous fund was used as a "piggy bank" by the Mob in Las Vegas. The "Oversight Committees" were put in place to make sure no more corruption, mismanagement and draining of the fund would happen again like it did prior to the '70's. Instead they did nothing. Nyhan and his predecessors just went on as before, using the fund as their (and the IBT's) convenient ATM cash machine. Even in January 2015 a NYC Federal judge, Loretta Preska, ruled that there was no longer any corruption going on in the IBT and thereby ended a Consent Decree that began inn 1989 to oversee, and put an end to, the corruption in the IBT, it's Locals and I would assume also it's previously proven "cash cow" the CSPF..
Was this Fed Judge just stupid, seriously uninformed or just paid off? You choose. Anybody with at least 2 brain cells still working knows the corruption is still widespread in the Teamsters, from top to bottom. There are few locals that are not in lock-step with whatever Hoffa wants.

The article was about 707, not Central States.

 

[henry j]

The article was about 707, not Central States.

OK - my mistake, but the story is sure similar to the happenings at CSPF.
The NY Federal Judge Loretta Preska has ruled in Jan 2015, that there is no longer any mismanagement or corruption in the IBT and no longer any need for oversight. That's comforting to know, especially for the retirees.
I wonder if she has since retired with her newly acquired "retirement fund".

 

[jimmy g]

OK - my mistake, but the story is sure similar.

Only in that all MEPS were forced to promise more than we can deliver. Both could have been much more accountable, but CHOSE otherwise, and now want bailed out.