As reported by app.com, New Jersey officials continued to move the State’s $71.6 billion pension fund into more aggressive, and riskier, investments, as returns have missed their targets for a decade. The decisions included putting $100 million into a private equity fund run by a big fundraiser for President Barack Obama.

State Investment Council Chairman Robert Grady contends the changes will not only provide better returns, but also make the overall pension portfolio safer by making it less subject to increasing interest rates or stock market swings. Union representatives on the council are opposed and prefer the State stick with a traditional mix of stock and bonds. The council voted 8-3 to take another step toward allowing the State’s money managers to invest more than a third, up to 38%, of the pension funds in so-called alternative investments: private equity, hedge funds, real estate, and commodities. The policy is expected to be approved in May.

Some unions, particularly Communications Workers of America Local 1033 representing rank and file state workers, have fought the effort to change the State’s investment strategy and said the State is taking undue risk with the money. The State faces a collective $53.8 billion unfunded liability in the pension fund over the next 30 years. Governor Chris Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney are both proposing sweeping changes to the pension system in an effort to reduce payouts.

The pension funds had gained an average of some 3 percent a year for the past 10 years as stocks swooned in 2001 and the recent financial crisis torpedoed investments broadly. The state pension system is constructed with the expectation that investments would earn 8.25 percent a year. Timothy Walsh, director of the Division of Investment, noted that the state’s pension funds were up just over 15 percent through the first eight months of the fiscal year that began in July, led by outsized gains in the U.S. stock market. Investment officials said the State had made $435 million from private equity firms in the past three months, and they expected greater gains in the months ahead.

Tags: Articles, Christie, CWA, NJ Pension Funds, Pension Underfunding, State Investments, Sweeney
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Photo of Donald C. Barbati Donald C. Barbati

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues…

Donald C. Barbati is a shareholder of Crivelli, Barbati & DeRose, L.L.C. His primary practice revolves around the representation of numerous public employee labor unions in various capacities to include contract negotiation, unfair labor practice litigation, contract grievance arbitration, and other diverse issues litigated before the courts and administrative tribunals throughout the State of New Jersey. In addition, Mr. Barbati also routinely represents individuals in various types of public pension appeals, real estate transactions, and general litigation matters. He is a frequent contributor to the New Jersey Public Safety Officers Law Blog, a free legal publication designed to keep New Jersey public safety officers up-to-date and informed about legal issues pertinent to their profession. During his years of practice, Mr. Barbati has established a reputation for achieving favorable results for his clients in a cost-efficient manner.

Mr. Barbati has also handled numerous novel legal issues while representing New Jersey Public Safety Officers. Most notably, he served as lead counsel for the Appellants in the published case In re Rodriguez, 423 N.J. Super. 440 (App. Div. 2011). In that case, Mr. Barbati successfully argued on behalf of the Appellants, thereby overturning the Attorney General’s denial of counsel to two prison guards in a civil rights suit arising from an inmate assault. In the process, the Court clarified the standard to be utilized by the Attorney General in assessing whether a public employee is entitled to legal representation and mandated that reliance must be placed on up-to-date information.

Prior to becoming a practicing attorney, Mr. Barbati served as a judicial law clerk to the Honorable Linda R. Feinberg, Assignment Judge of the Superior Court of New Jersey, Mercer Vicinage. During his clerkship Mr. Barbati handled numerous complex and novel substantive and procedural issues arising from complaints in lieu of prerogative writs, orders to show cause, and motion practice. These include appeals from decisions by planning and zoning boards and local government bodies, bidding challenges under the Local Public Contract Law, Open Public Records Act requests, the taking of private property under the eminent domain statute, and election law disputes. In addition, Mr. Barbati, as a certified mediator, mediated many small claims disputes in the Special Civil Part.

Mr. Barbati received a Bachelor of Arts degree in history, magna cum laude, from Rider University in Lawrenceville, New Jersey. Upon graduating, Mr. Barbati attended Widener University School of Law in Wilmington, Delaware. In 2007, he received his juris doctorate, magna cum laude, graduating in the top five percent of his class. During law school, Mr. Barbati interned for the Honorable Joseph E. Irenas, Senior United States District Court Judge for the District of New Jersey in Camden, New Jersey, assisting on various constitutional, employment, and Third Circuit Court of Appeals litigation, including numerous civil rights, social security, and immigration cases.

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