IFS in the News

In its Sept/October edition, the Journal of Benefits and Compensation published an article entitled "The Role of the Independent Fiduciary," authored by Skip Halpern, President of IFS.

Consultants say the recent Securities and Exchange Commission probe into consulting practices in the pension industry has affected the hiring process they go through for pension funds. At the Opal Financial Group sponsored Public Funds Summit here, four consultants touched on issues regarding pay to play and consultant evaluation, among other topics. The SEC probe that spanned two years led pension plans to take another look at the types of activities their consultants were engaging in.

Montana Board of Investments, Helena, hired ... the board's first full-time investment consultant ... after issuing an RFP in August following a one-time operational review by Independent Fiduciary Services.

In the article titled "Indictment of ex-trustee sparks outrage and questions at plan", Samuel W. "Skip" Halpern, executive vice president, Independent Fiduciary Services, Inc., Washington said that many of the issues raised about the Illinois Teacher Retirement System in the Levine scandal were addressed by his firm's 1998 evaluation of the System's processes and investment practices. One key recommendation was to establish an extensive and independent internal audit process, for example.

Ed Patchett of IFS recently authored an article on alternative investments.

Excerpt: "Alternative investments are complex and often present unique investment and fiduciary risks for trustees. This article provides a brief overview of the alternative investments class and highlights some key investment characteristics and risks associated with alternative investments."

This article (pg 71-72) titled "Still on the hook - the run-up in fiduciary liability insurance premiums has slowed, but that doesn't mean that 401(k) litigation has cooled off", cites Independent Fiduciary Services, Inc. as one of the better known consulting companies in the industry.

In the article (pg 27) titled "Louisiana law puts disclosure onus on firms", Samuel W. "Skip" Halpern, executive vice president, Independent Fiduciary Services, Inc., Washington said, "The overall thrust of the [Louisiana] legislation is healthy from a public policy perspective. The statute is well aimed at focusing on revenue from other than pension sponsor sources, and I take that to mean revenue from helping money managers in their proprietary business. It's a good provision insofar as it refers to revenue in both hard and soft dollars," Mr.

In a Letter to the Editor, Samuel Halpern, Executive Vice President of Independent Fiduciary Services, discusses the differences between an Operational Review (or as the industry often calls them, "investment fiduciary audits" or "performance management audits") and a "forensic audit." The Operational Review typically is geared to producing forward-looking, concrete recommendations designed to enhance the pension fund's policies, procedures and practices. By contrast, a "forensic audit" is more oriented toward civil or even criminal legal proceedings.

The $52 billion Pennsylvania Public School Employees’ Retirement System and the $26.6 billion Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System signed an agreement allowing state audits of the two funds’ investment performance. The agreement settles pending litigation.

Milwaukee City Employees’ Retirement System selected Independent Fiduciary Services as consultant to conduct a fiduciary audit and operational review, pending contract negotiations, according to Jennifer A. Shannon, CJO of the $4.3 billion fund. The audit will include examination of investment policy, manager search process and money manager fees, and a cost/benefit analysis of improvements.