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养老金资金追求的黑暗金钱游说集团

养老基金诚信研究所索赔,它希望将政治纳入养老基金。但它真的想要什么?

在一个时代,当一个电视明星是总统和名人定期进入政治事务时,一个组织致力于将政治留出的东西 - 任何东西 - 似乎都很清爽。

进入养老基金诚信研究所。

令人印象深刻地命名的集团开始了大约一年前的“保持政治资金”的活动,于2018年4月推出。从那时起,IPFI发布了几篇白皮书路透社巴伦的亚博赞助欧冠以及其他主流出版物。它已向证券交易委员会圆桌会议和目标特定美国公共资金提交报告,包括新泽西州和华盛顿州。

Founder Christopher Bancroft Burnham claims that IPFI is working to depoliticize pension funds and make performance information more accessible.

但在实践中,本组织主要攻击撤资倡议和环境,社会,治理(ESG)方案。它在公共资金上发布的信息经常具有错误和看似自助数据的错误。对于努力使养老金的人不会努力,伯纳姆有深刻的政治关系。他于2016年担任唐纳德特朗普总统的过渡团队,最近被借给了by the House Judiciary Committee as part of its investigation into potential abuses of power and illicit campaign activities.

大量强大的实体仍可从IPFI的工作中受益。美国公共养老基金是全球市场的大规模投资者,往往是石油公司,武器制造商的顶级股东,以及其他有争议的部门的公司。据该集团成功地剥夺了剥夺职责,那些行业赢了。

关于IPFI的最明显的问题 - 谁在付钱?- 创始人拒绝回答。

Burnham表示,到目前为止,他的团队已收到两项捐款,但不会命名捐助者。“我们的政策是我们将从任何拥有我们共同愿景的人借钱,这些人在养老金资金管理中保持政治,”伯纳姆在3月份通过电话表示。“你的一位记者问道,我会从Koch兄弟那里拿钱吗?他们还没有捐出,但我肯定会拿钱。我会从Koch兄弟那里拿钱。“

IPFI是一个非营利组织,其在通常由政治游说团体使用的结构下运行,501(c)4。Burnham表示,他对该类别的决定感到遗憾,而第501(c)3流行为非巴顿集团。由于其结构,IPFI具有挥动其信息的自由,但可能缩小了捐助者基础。

“501(c)3不能做任何政治活动,它只能做一个小小的游说的游说,”Douglas varley律师们透露,他们专门从事非营利组织,但没有特别熟悉IPFI。“501(c)4可以做很多政治和大量的游说。”瓦尔利说,这两种类型都免于企业所得税。“501(c)3有其他福利,其中最重要的是,其中捐助者可以在捐赠给501(c)3时获得慈善扣除。”迄今为止,无论人们或组织资助IPFI,他们都没有为税收缩写进行。



Who, exactly, is providing the money是一个问题涉及一些人的IPFI是针对性的问题。

“Sometimes it’s really hard to figure out who is behind these groups,” says Kentucky Retirement Systems’ interim chief investment officer, Rich Robben. “It wouldn’t surprise me if it was somehow related to fossil fuels.”

Robben’s pension fund has been on the receiving end of inaccurate IPFI information. According to the nonprofit’s website, “The Kentucky State Retirement System [SIC.]其资金负债从2016年的16%下降至2017年资助的13.6%。2018财政年度的前景更令人沮丧,因为投资回报率是[SIC.]仍然持乐于7%。“

罗本说,“我们一年前改变了。假设我们提到的计划的返回率是5.25%,我很确定是该国最低的。“

The IPFI website’sdedicated page在肯塔基州似乎曾经与退休系统的完整IPFI报告有关,这已经脱机了。这是出现在网站上的过时或虚假信息的许多情况之一,其中许多链接到其假设的来源被打破。

例如,在它的新泽西州养老基金据“由WNYC推出的新会计准则”,页面,IPFI宣布总养老金债务为253亿美元。WNYC是纽约和周边地区的公共广播电台。该数字连接到“未找到”页面的“未找到”页面,如新泽西州的简要档案中的十三个或如此联系。同样,本集团的报告“ESG投资公共养老金:它是否增加了财务价值?”包括新泽西州国家投资委员会的案例研究,该委员会运营其养老基金。该报告于2018年9月25日发布,名称投资总监作为Chris McDonough的司。但是麦克唐诺hadn’t been in that role for months

Every publisher makes mistakes. Yet IPFI stands out for the sheer volume of errors, which remain uncorrected. Sloppiness may just be the result of the young nonprofit’s ambitions exceeding its resources. “From my point of view, their philosophy is one that makes sense,” says Chris Phillips, director of institutional relations and public affairs for the Washington State Investment Board. However, IPFI’s website includes a minor error about WSIB’s funded status. Phillips adds, “I get frustrated when there’s misinformation. Either side is capable of that.”

像关于华盛顿和新泽西州的资金那样的轻微监督可能被卷曲成长。然而,将这些错误添加到基础上的某些问题中质疑养老基金诚信研究所的诚信。

In an October 2018 report on the proxy process submitted to the SEC roundtable and published online, IPFI claims that代理咨询公司机构股东服务和玻璃刘易斯​​是投资公司,“有各种公司和行业的金融股份,允许利益冲突。”

玻璃刘易斯​​和ISS都不是一家投资公司。

“Obviously, we are not an investment firm, and if ‘with financial stakes in various industries’ is meant to imply that we own stock in publicly traded companies directly or on our clients’ behalf, that’s obviously not true either,” a spokesperson for Glass Lewis said via email. A spokesperson for ISS declined to comment.

该报告还声称,玻璃刘易斯​​是“由安大略省教师联盟拥有和运营,当企业以解释为”反联盟“的方式运作时,发生了明显的利益冲突。

虽然玻璃刘易斯​​是真的部分拥有by the Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan Board (it’s co-owned by Alberta Investment Management Corp.), Glass Lewis’s own website says that neither is involved in the day-to-day management of the business, or in the formulation and implementation of its proxy voting process.

The report also employs sleight of hand when it comes to talking about private equity investing. “Pension funds continue to shift more of their money from fixed-income assets to private equity,” it says. “Today these equity holdings make up as much as three quarters of pension fund holdings.”

当被问及2018年11月,IPFI员工莫利霍尔主任通过电子邮件表示,从2014年从PEW Trust调查中提出的所有公共股票和替代方案的“三个季度”号。

The report “ESG Investing for Public Pensions: Does It Add Financial Value?” likewise includes incorrect information on how ESG investments perform in comparison to benchmarks.

它引用了波士顿学院退休研究中心的2016年研究。据IPFI报告称,“结果表明,从事ESG投资的计划的回报率趋于近40个基点。”

这不是真的。报告IPFI引用表明,近40个基点的表现在养老基金中发生了撤资法,而不是在从事ESG投资的资金。

克里斯托弗班克罗夫特伯纳姆

IPFI的办公室位于21楼of a corporate office building in Arlington, Virginia, just one metro stop away from Washington, D.C. The office houses Burnham’s three major ventures: Eastport Analytics, the data provider that Burnham chairs; his venture capital firm, Cambridge Global Capital; and, of course, the Institute for Pension Fund Integrity.

Burnham’s own office is in the corner of the floor, past glassy conference rooms, a television playing CNN, and an office kitchen stocked with seltzer. Full of light on an early spring day, the windows look out on trees starting to bloom.

桌面与文件和名片凌乱,至少部分地部分地用鱼形纸重量。伯纳姆是一名渔民,在业余时间捕捉摇滚鱼和鳟鱼。

纪念品从他的海军陆战队中的时间填满了窗台。他在“萨达姆的蜘蛛洞”之外,指出了自己的照片 - 伊拉克独裁者萨达姆·侯赛因被捕获的网站。一个类似于希拉里克林顿的胡桃夹子在展示,仍然在它的盒子里。显然,她的大腿可以用来压碎坚果。

对于伯纳姆和IPFI来说,让政治退出养老基金意味着资金专注于他们的信托义务,以获得计划参与者的最佳回报。他相信,剥夺甚至考虑在ESG担忧的概念上表达了个人和政治议程。

“良好治理就是你不玩政治,”Burnham said in an April interview. “You don’t play politics with shareholder money; you don’t play politics with pension money. Play politics with your own money.”

他在养老基金和政治生涯日期回1994年,当伯纳姆当选为康涅狄格州的州司库。根据伯纳姆的数据,当时,康涅狄格州养老基金是美国最糟糕的表演者之一。他表示,他通过将其转移到最终投资的投资于投资于指数基金的75%,以150亿美元的退休基金转变为达到150亿美元的退休基金。

Burnham于1997年辞职,在哥伦布圈投资者那里担任PIMCO的子公司。该举措受康涅狄格州民主党人和国家道德委员会作为可能的利益冲突,因为伯纳姆在辞职前一年授予哥伦布圈投资合同,The New York Times1997年报道。

When asked about this move, Burnham says: “I had a one-year-old baby, a pregnant wife, a mortgage, and I was the fourth-lowest-paid treasurer in the nation. So after fulfilling what I felt was what I had promised to do from a campaign standpoint, and after lengthy discussions with my wife, I decided to take care of my growing family needs and go back into the private sector.”

Controversial career moves have come more recently, too.

2016年,伯纳姆被挖掘加入总统特朗普的过渡队,他说他建议雷克斯泰尔森担任担任国家秘书大约一年的雷克斯。根据伯纳姆的说法,他的身份在大约两个半月内工作。他补充说,他以前建议乔治·W·布什的总统在过渡时。

In March, Burnham was among the 81 agencies, entities, and individuals subpoenaed by the House Judiciary Committee as part of its “Threats Against the Rule of Law” investigation. Burnham said in the April interview that he doesn’t know why he was included in the subpoenas, which also went to Donald Trump Jr. and Steve Bannon, former White House chief strategist.

Burnham had raised eyebrows by accepting board seats at Russian aluminum giantsEn+rusal.,两者以前由Oleg Deripaska领导。寡头的联系对弗拉基米尔·普京导致美国财政部对两家公司的制裁2018年12月。Burnham joined the boards when制裁1月份松散。The majority of the companies’ directors have to be European or American and independent, which Burnham says is why he was picked.



“克里斯是其中之一聘请投资业务的大于生活角质,“凯文帕克说,伯文·帕克(Kevin Parker)聘请Burnham在德意志银行为他工作。“克里斯将踢到任何门或经过任何门。他的脚下觉得很快。他的名字很棒。他知道很多人。他可以进去和任何人交谈。“

事实上,伯纳姆的一些美国最大的投资基金的注意力具有显着效率。IPFI只有两名兼职员工:剑桥全球顾问高级客户高级顾问高级顾问兼顾问,伯恩姆投资公司的咨询。添加在两个匿名捐助者,前公共官员,八月绰号和一些挑衅白皮书的董事会。突然间,加州的巨头教师的养老基金(Calstrs)和纽约州的财务椅将回答一个人的批评 - 即使只是为了挥手。

A CalSTRS spokesperson says that IPFI’s position on its divestments and ESG policies did not sway the fund’s work. “We are well aware of our fiduciary responsibilities. That is why we have detailed policies and processes in order to enact divestment,” the spokesperson wrote via email. “CalSTRS prefers active engagement with our holdings and reserves divestment as最后的度假村when engagement cannot adequately address ESG concerns.”

但是,谁通过养老基金诚信研究所与CALSTRS和其他公共养老金计划从事仍然不清楚。当授予本文出版之前的机会澄清是谁支持他的时候,伯纳姆再次选择保留他的资金来源黑暗。