Sincerely,
Michael R. Duckett
State of Wisconsin
State of Wisconsin Investment Board
December 30, 1997
The Honorable, The Senate/Legislature:
Attached is the Investment Board's annual report to the Legislature on investment goals and long-term strategies, as provided under section 25.17(14g) of the Statutes. Objectives for each of the major funds managed by SWIB are described and significant changes since our last report are noted.
The Board currently manages over $48.2 billion for the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS), the tenth largest US public pension fund and the 21st largest public or private pension fund in the world. The Board also manages over $4.8 billion in cash balances of state agencies and local governments in the State Investment Fund (SIF). Cash balances of the WRS are also managed in SIF.
Our investment objectives remain fundamentally the same from year-to-year. A long-term focus guides the investment strategy for the Retirement System trust funds, in keeping with their long-term obligations. The SIF emphasizes safety of principal and liquidity, commensurate with a reasonable rate of return.
Key points of note in this report:
Wisconsin Retirement System Trust Funds
•
The basic investment objective for the Fixed (or balanced) Retirement Fund is to achieve an average 8% annual return over the long-term. This month, the Employe Trust Funds Board approved the actuary's recommendation to increase the expected spread between salary inflation and investment return from 2.7% to 3.2%. This will result in a relative increase in the portion of liabilities funded from investment returns. In June 1998, the ETF Board may consider reductions in contribution rates based on investment returns for 1997.
•
The assets of the Fixed Fund are diversified among various markets in order to produce needed rates of return over the long-term and to manage risk. The overall asset mix for the Fixed Fund is similar to what is typical for other large public pension funds.
•
Due to the run-up in the domestic stock market, we moved some funds from stocks to bonds in 1997 in order to achieve the strategic targets for these assets. Together, domestic and international stocks continue to represent about 55% of Fund assets.
•
We have shifted a portion of our large-company domestic stock portfolio from active management to an S&P 500 index fund. This enables us to direct more of our analytical resources to the small and mid-size companies where there are greater opportunities to add value with active management. The use of index funds also facilitates rebalancing among asset classes.
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Trustees and staff are engaged in a major planning exercise to examine the funding needs of the WRS and investment market trends over the next five to ten years. With the assistance of outside experts we are reviewing where investment managers are most likely to add value in the markets of the future. By the fall of 1998, we expect to complete an assessment of the implications for SWIB.
State Investment Fund
•
The State Investment Fund (SIF) continues to maintain a short average maturity because the current market offers relatively little added return for investments of longer maturity. Interest rates for 81% of the portfolio reset within three months or less. This strategy has served the Fund well over the last several years.
•
We restructured the Wisconsin Certificate of Deposit Program to make it more attractive to Wisconsin financial institutions. Because of these changes, participation has grown from 20 banks with $54 million in CDs to over 121 banks with over $239 million in outstanding CDs purchased by SWIB.
With the assistance of the UW Survey Research Laboratory, we surveyed WRS members and local governments participating in SIF. These surveys are helping us to improve services and to better understand the types of information participants want to receive from SWIB about the management of their funds.
By March 31 we will submit our annual investment performance report to you. Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions about this report or other matters.
Sincerely,
Patricia Lipton
Executive Director
State of Wisconsin
Ethics Board
December 30, 1997
To the Honorable the Senate:
At the direction of §
13.685(7),
Wisconsin Statutes, I am furnishing you with the names of organizations recently registered with the Ethics Board that employ one or more individuals to affect state legislation or administrative rules, and notifying you of changes in the Ethics Board's records of licensed lobbyists and their employers. For each recently registered organization I have included the organization's description of the general area of legislative or administrative action that it attempts to influence and the name of each licensed lobbyist that the organization has authorized to act on its behalf.
S387
Organizations recently registered:
Below are the names of organizations recently registered with the Ethics Board as employing one or more individuals to affect state legislation or administrative rules.
Accurate Provider Reimbursement LLC
Subject(s): Health care billing costs, controls, collections, to state governmental agencies such as Medicaid, Medicare, etc.
Sicula, Paul
Organization's authorization of additional lobbyists:
The following organizations previously registered with the Ethics Board have authorized to act on their behalf these additional licensed lobbyists:
Metropolitan Milwaukee Assn of Commerce
Reid, William S
Philip Morris Inc
Krajewski, Thomas
McDowell, Kelly
Schreiber, Martin
Termination of lobbying authorizations:
The following individuals are no longer authorized to lobby on behalf of the organizations listed below, as of the dates indicated.
Metropolitan Milwaukee Assn of Commerce
Baas, Mary Jo 12/26/97
Also available from the Wisconsin Ethics Board are reports identifying the amount and value of time state agencies have spent to affect legislative action and reports of expenditures for lobbying activities filed by the organizations that employ lobbyists.
Sincerely,
R. Roth Judd
Executive Director
State of Wisconsin
Ethics Board
January 6, 1998
To the Honorable the Senate:
At the direction of s.
13.685(7),
Wisconsin Statutes, I am furnishing you with the names of organizations recently registered with the Ethics Board that employ one or more individuals to affect state legislation or administrative rules, and notifying you of changes in the Ethics Board's records of licensed lobbyists and their employers. For each recently registered organization I have included the organization's description of the general area of legislative or administrative action that it attempts to influence and the name of each licensed lobbyist that the organization has authorized to act on its behalf.
Organization's authorization of additional lobbyists:
The following organizations previously registered with the Ethics Board have authorized to act on their behalf these additional licensed lobbyists:
Citizens for a Better Environment
Dawson, Thomas
Termination of lobbying authorizations:
The following individuals are no longer authorized to lobby on behalf of the organizations listed below, as of the dates indicated.
Advocacy, Wisconsin Coalition for
Froemming, Roy 1/6/98
Barr Laboratories
Solie, Denise 1/2/98
Electric Power Co, Wisconsin
Solie, Denise 1/2/98
Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District
Solie, Denise 1/2/98
Milwaukee Public Museum, Inc
Solie, Denise 1/2/98
Petroleum Marketers Assn of Wisc & Wisc Assn of Convenience
Solie, Denise 1/2/98
Plumbers Local 75
Solie, Denise 1/2/98
Prosecutors, Assn of State
Solie, Denise 1/2/98
Skipper Bud's
Solie, Denise 1/2/98
Waste Management of Wisconsin, Inc
Solie, Denise 1/2/98
Also available from the Wisconsin Ethics Board are reports identifying the amount and value of time state agencies have spent to affect legislative action and reports of expenditures for lobbying activities filed by the organizations that employ lobbyists.
Sincerely,
R. Roth Judd
Executive Director
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