Four employees who manage Wisconsin’s pension fund are on track to receive six-figure bonuses for their 2008 performance while 20 others could get $25,000 or more, newly released records show.
The bonus payments, totaling $1.7 million, will be deferred until at least 2011. But their approval comes despite the loss of billions of dollars in the fund’s assets in 2008 as the global economy crashed, which caused an unprecedented drop in benefits for tens of thousands of retired government workers.
The State of Wisconsin Investment Board historically has given annual bonuses to its money managers in March based on performance but this year delayed a decision for months amid the recession.
Last month, the board set aside $1.7 million in a trust fund for bonuses but delayed payments until at least one year after the next positive year of returns. That will most likely be 2011 since the fund is showing solid gains this year. Employees who leave before then will forfeit them, unless they retire.
The board released records this week showing 48 out of 64 investment staff members were approved for bonuses, including a senior portfolio manager who will receive $150,500 if he stays and three others who could get $100,000 or more.
“That’s hard to understand,” said James Kurtz, 69, a retired Department of Natural Resources lawyer whose monthly benefits dropped by $100 in May. “Bonus, to a normal person, means you did something well. Last year was a disaster.”
Agency spokeswoman Vicki Hearing acknowledged some retirees were not happy with the bonuses. She said the board’s trustees took that into account but decided they needed to reward employees who expected compensation for exceeding investment goals. (AP)
