(Ohio)State pumped money into high-risk fund(after it started losing money

[Robbien]

Millions of dollars were moved into a high-risk hedge fund after it started showing huge losses for the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, a newspaper reported Tuesday. The Columbus Dispatch said it obtained bureau records showing that an additional $125 million went into the fund after it had already lost millions.

. . .

Monthly reports from MDL to the bureau show the fund lost $40.6 million in February, March and April of last year, before $100 million was allocated to it in May, the newspaper said. The fund lost at least $73.6 million more before another $25 million was allocated to it September, the records show. The fund had lost $215 million when it was shut down in October, officials said.

Bureau officials have said funds were moved from a conservative bond investment to the hedge fund. Spokeswoman Emily Hicks said senior managers were not aware that money was being moved between the funds, and they didn't learn about the losses until September.

. . .

Another member of the board, Cleveland NAACP director George Forbes, resigned last week when it was revealed his daughter works for MDL Capital Management. Forbes said his daughter's job had no influence on the company's work for the bureau.

http://www.ohio.com/mld/beaconjournal/news/state/11886514.htm

[Carla in Ca]

1. The stupidity of a gambler

Keep putting in more to recoup previous losses...what a jerk.

[Toots]

9. Stocks are a gamble that is for sure but the thing about stocks is buy low

I am sure they thought they were getting a good deal when they continued to buy. I have myself averaged down the price of some stocks by taking advantage of low prices. The difference here is they were the one and only invester in this fund and they didn't even know it. It is hard to have people bid the price of your stock up if there are no people to bid.

[bemildred]

11. Yep, chasing the pot. nt

[ogradda]

2. Uhuh. Sure.

"Another member of the board, Cleveland NAACP director George Forbes, resigned last week when it was revealed his daughter works for MDL Capital Management. Forbes said his daughter's job had no influence on the company's work for the bureau."

Give me a break.:eyes:

[roguevalley]

3. apparently they also invested, the state, in beanie babies.

[mia]

4. reminds me of Florida pension fund's buy of Enron stock

http://www.whoseflorida.com/pension_fund.htm


Florida sues investment manager who put pension funds in Enron
TALLAHASSEE — The agency that oversees Florida's pension fund sued an investment manager Tuesday to recoup losses from an ill-timed move into Enron's plunging stock. Alliance Capital Management, one of about 70 contract firms hired to invest parts of the state's $100 billion retirement pool, cost the fund more than $300 million by investing in the energy giant as the company was spiraling toward bankruptcy late last year.5/9/02

[salin]

6. and of Edison Schools

AFTER it was almost delisted by NASDAQ, had only had a single profitable quarter since its inception (six or seven years earlier) - and Chris Whittle wanted it to "go private" again. So the buy was approved by the state pension fund and approved by the 3 person o.s. committee (of which Jeb! is one of the three) ... a big FU to florida public teachers - use their pension to buy a privatizing education company that loses money.

Now that it is "private" there is no public disclosure of how the company is doing financially.

[UpInArms]

7. and then folks wonder why pension funds

and other state funds are running in the red.

:shakesheadsadly:

[indepat]

5. Fraud seems to be abounding in epidemic proportions, but accountability

will likely be lacking.

[The Backlash Cometh]

8. Jesus. And I just wrote in another thread that capitalism is a racket.

You don't have to wait long around here to be proven right. This is like Florida's teachers' fund and the Enron stock.

At a minimum, someone should be fired over this.

[damntexdem]

10. Standard GOP operating procedure:

throw good money after bad. But that's step 2. Step 1 is: make original money go bad.