Wilshire on island this month; Buck Consultant in March

Wilshire Associates, the former investment consultant of the NMI Retirement Fund, will be on island before end of the month to formalize its new agreement with the pension agency and start working on the contract’s deliverables, according to board chair Sixto K. Igisomar.

This comes after the two parties agreed to the terms and conditions of the new agreement, which pays the consultant a lower fee—from $196,000 to $165,000 annually.

Igisomar told Saipan Tribune yesterday that Wilshire principals will discuss with the board its immediate recommendations on the agency’s portfolio, which was valued at $255.7 million as of Jan. 31, with $105 million in CDARS and $145 million in mutual funds.

Saipan Tribune learned that Wilshire’s contract was sent to the company last week following a review by the Office of the Attorney General. The board then immediately stopped the liquidation of its assets and transfer to CDARS, or certificate of deposit account registry service.

Igisomar, meantime, disclosed that the contract for Buck Consultants—the agency’s actuarial consultant—was sent to the firm yesterday.

“Assuming everything [about these contracts] went well, we’re expecting both of our consultants to be onboard soon,” said Igisomar, adding that the Fund is scheduled to meet Buck officials next month.

Both Buck Consultants and Wilshire terminated their contracts with the Fund after the passage of the Beneficiaries’ Derivative Act last year, which increased their risk of being sued. That law has since been repealed.

Buck started working for the Fund in 2007 while Wilshire was hired in October 2010.

Igisomar said yesterday that the board approved a slight increase in its contract with the actuarial consultant—from $52,000 annually to $59,000—due to the actuary’s increase in their hourly rates since the last contract.

For the board consultant, Igisomar said the final contract offered to Heinz Hofschneider has yet to be signed but he expects this to be finalized “very soon.” Hofschneider was hired by the board for $70,000 per year to assist the trustees in identifying solutions to the current problems of the pension agency.

Meantime, the board put on hold the hiring of money managers until Wilshire is on board. The Fund’s money managers had also left because of the impact of the derivative law.