‘Only repeal or TRO can convince Wilshire to stay’

The NMI Retirement Fund’s investment consultant will only stick around under two conditions: the repeal of the Beneficiaries Derivative Act or the issuance of a temporary restraining order to prevent its enforcement.

Maggie Ralbovsky, Wilshire Consulting Inc.’s principal, told Saipan Tribune yesterday that these two circumstances could convince them to stay and help manage the dwindling assets of the Commonwealth’s troubled pension program.

Wilshire, the Fund’s investment consultant since October 2010, decided to end its services with the Fund effective Oct. 8, following the enactment of Public Law 17-51 or the Beneficiaries’ Derivative Act last month, fearing it will result in a deluge of lawsuits against itself and the Fund. That law allows retirees to sue if the board refuses to do so.

“Wilshire’s services to the Fund will end on Friday, unless the law is repealed or otherwise restrained in the next three days. If the judge issues a preliminary injunction before Friday, we may consider staying on until December to assist with the transition to a new consultant if one can be found,” Ralbovsky said.

The Fund’s board of trustees, in an emergency meeting on Tuesday, voted to put out an ad for a new investment consultant and an actuary.

The Fund’s previous actuary, Buck Consultants, had also terminated its services for the same reason.

The entry of a new investment consultant-if one is selected-could also result in changes to the strategy that Wilshire had earlier mapped out to effectively manage the Fund’s diminishing assets, Ralbovsky said.

Wilshire had recommended using a glide path strategy, which calls for the creation of an asset allocation model that becomes more conservative (i.e., includes more fixed-income assets and fewer equities) the closer the Fund gets to a target date. The Fund board has already approved this approach.

“We cannot tell if a new consultant can be contracted nor whether the new consultant will continue the strategy if one can be retained,” Ralbovsky said, adding that at this stage in the Fund’s life, glide path is the most prudent approach to protect the Fund’s remaining assets as it takes limited risks.

She said the glide path strategy was able to protect the Fund’s assets during extreme downturns in September, for example. As of last week, the Fund’s investment portfolio was valued at $266 million.

With six money managers terminating their contracts with the Fund, Wilshire is recommending investing the liquidated assets in mutual funds.

“Investing in mutual funds is a mechanism to continue implementing the glide path strategy under the circumstances. Using mutual funds for this strategy is less optimal than the original plan,” she said.