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Now You Read What Greenwich Reporters Have To Say A Day Earlier At
It Is Just An Ugly Rumor That The Greenwich Time Web Site Is Going To Be Folded Into ConnPost.com - Soon You May Read About The Greenwich Time Newspaper In The Death Notices Section Of The Connecticut Post
Connecticut Post
By NEIL VIGDOR
Staff writer
Article Last Updated: 12/18/2008 10:25:13 PM EST
The custodians of Fairfield's municipal pension system failed to heed repeated warnings against taking such a large position in a high-risk investment pool now tied to the alleged mastermind of a $50 billion Ponzi scheme, the town's pension consultant said Thursday.
In a briefing to members of the Retirement Board of Greenwich, which uses the same advisory firm, Douglas Moseley, of Cambridge, Mass.-based New England Pension Consultants, said that Fairfield had been counseled not to invest so heavily in the MAXAM Absolute Return Fund.
Around 14 percent of the assets in Fairfield's $286 million pension fund......
.....Fairfield First Selectman Ken Flatto, who is a member of the municipal pension board, denied that his town had ignored red flags.
"We do recall discussions about diversification. Beyond that, there was never a recommendation that you have to get out of any investment manager," Flatto said.....
....Although Greenwich did not entrust any of the assets of its pension fund to Madoff, members of the town's Retirement and finance boards grilled Moseley for about a half-hour Thursday about the advice his firm gave to Fairfield.....
....We never performed due diligence on Madoff," Moseley said.
That answer apparently didn't sit well with some at the meeting, attended by four members (one-third) of the Board of Estimate and Taxation.
"They essentially were supposed to provide oversight and you were supposed to vet oversight," said Robert Stone, the BET vice chairman.
At one point during the intensive questioning, Moseley was asked how much insurance coverage his firm had for errors and omissions related to financial losses, and he said it is $5 million.....
.....While Greenwich has seen its $253 million municipal pension fund lose more than $100 million since last year because of poor performance, Moseley said the town does not have any of the same kind of holdings as Fairfield in its portfolio.
Moseley also pointed out that all investment options chosen by the town were recommended by NEPC, with the exception of Gilbert Global Equity Partners, a private investment fund to which the Retirement Board committed $10 million.
NEPC has been advising the Retirement Board on its investments for about five years, earning around $90,000 annually under a contract with the town that officials said they are shortly going to put out for competitive bid.
Michael Pagliaro, the Retirement Board chairman, said the decision had nothing to do with the situation in Fairfield and that the town was simply opening the contract up to competition......
UPDATE:
The Greenwich Web Master Could Not Get It Up Last Night But He Was Finally Able To Get It Up The Next Morning
By Neil Vigdor
Staff Writer
Article Launched: 12/19/2008 02:35:14 AM EST
Members of the Greenwich Retirement Board pressed their pension consultant Thursday to explain how they let another client, the town of Fairfield, invest $42 million in a high-risk pool under the management of Bernard Madoff
Douglas Moseley, a partner with Cambridge, Mass.-based New England Pension Consultants, the advisory firm used by the two towns, said that Fairfield failed to heed warnings not to invest so heavily in the MAXAM Absolute Return Fund......
Question:
Why Is A Greenwich Reporter's News Story Released At Hearst Newspaper's Flagship Web Site Four Hours Before It Is Released At The Greenwich Time?
Could It Be That The Greenwich Time, The Stamford Advocate And Norwalk Advocate Will Be Folded Into The Connecticut Post?
The Greenwich Post And The Other Weekly Fairfield Newspapers Have Been Added To The Conneticut Post Web Site, But Not To The Greenwich Time, Stamford Advocate And Norwalk Advocate Web Sites.
The Rumor Is That The Greenwich Time Subscribers Will Eventually Converted To CT Post Subscribers.
While The Greenwich Citizen And The Other Brooks Newspapers Will Become Local Wrappers To Deliver Grocery And Drug Store Circulars To Non-Subscriber Households.
=============================================================Thank you to cour Greenwich Time / Stamford Advocate insider for the early link CT Post News Links for stories written by Greenwich Time reporters. Why do Greenwich Time website readers have to wait four, five or more hours for the same story to be posted?
Please send your comments and out of town news links to GreenwichRoundup@gmail.com
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