BISMARCK, N.D. (KFYR) - The State Investment Board has hired a new consultant to oversee the state’s $23 billion in investments.
State Treasurer Thomas Beadle said their staff is highly qualified. However, he said they always want to make sure they have a third-party perspective providing oversight and insight.
Beadle said the State Investment Board has had a consultant on contract since the 1980′s. He said they have been maturing the team and growing their internal investment program, getting it to the point where their team and North Dakota employees can actually go out and make the investments directly instead of just relying on outside fund managers.
“We wanted to shift to a model that allowed us to have consultants that were a little more specialized in terms of their scope and their focus. The broad general consultant arrangement that we had before was great and had worked well for us in the past, but it wasn’t what we wanted going forward. We now have separated that. We’ve hired Verus to oversee and help provide general performance reporting, help show where we are compared to the markets,” said Beadle.
Beadle said the recent consultant group that they hired is NEPC, which they brought on to help them as an allocation consultant. He said it allows them to be a little more nimble with their response while making sure that they have good dedicated coverage so that they get the insight that they are looking for.