Senate committee hears Board of Investments nominees; members point to fiduciary oversight, housing and cybersecurity work

The Montana Senate Business and Labor Committee on an unnamed date heard testimony supporting six governor-appointed nominees to the state Board of Investments and moved all six resolutions forward in executive action.

Lieutenant Governor Kristen Juras spoke for the governor in support of the nominees and described the board’s constitutional role in managing the state’s financial assets. Dan Villa, executive director of the Board of Investments, outlined the agency’s recent work and metrics, saying the board managed $28,300,000,000 in assets as of June 30, 2024 and citing a consolidated-asset pension pool return of 7.76% compared with constitutional targets. “Our cost ratio … is down from 0.31% to 0.25% since fiscal 2018,” Villa said, and he described independent SOC 1 Type 2 and CEM benchmarking reviews and additional IT security layers added atop state systems.

Nominees who spoke and were supported included Mark Berry (incumbent, audit chair), John Milanovich (first-term appointee), Jeff Meredith (Glacier Bank vice president; incoming board chair), Maggie Peterson (representative of the public employees association), Daniel Trost (teachers’ retirement system representative; unable to attend in person) and Dwayne Iverson (certified public accountant). Each nominee summarized relevant experience: Berry said his prior 25 years as chief financial officer at the Montana State Fund gave him oversight and control experience; Milanovich described 28 years in investments and wealth management; Meredith said he manages Glacier Bank’s investment portfolio across 19 years at the bank; Peterson emphasized her audit and HR committee experience from Montana Tech and the Montana Public Employees Association; Trost’s biography noted his role at D.A. Davidson and background in applied economics; Iverson noted his long accounting career and service in professional associations.

Committee members asked about market volatility, the board’s reaction to equity downturns and cybersecurity. Villa said the board sets long-term strategic asset allocations — the board alone sets the allocations — and relies on diversification across asset classes so public-market swings are managed within policy ranges. On cybersecurity, Villa said the board had no known breaches and had layered additional controls above the state baseline. “There is no mechanism by which any one individual could move money at the board of investments,” Villa said, describing multi-approval controls for transfers.

Villa also summarized the board’s role in housing and loan programs, citing implementation of the Homes Act (House Bill 819) and noting a revolving loan fund used to build workforce housing, down payment assistance that used ARPA funds, and other loan activity. He described the Deer Lodge workforce housing project he said furnished roughly 28 units and the program’s lottery-based tenant selection and stated rents.

After the hearing phase the committee recessed into executive action and confirmed the six resolutions related to the Board of Investments nominations: SR 60 (Mark Berry), SR 64 (John Milanovich), SR 65 (Jeff Meredith), SR 66 (Maggie Peterson), SR 67 (Daniel Trost) and SR 75 (Dwayne Iverson). Committee members recorded no recorded opposition during the motions and the chair announced each resolution as passed.

Why it matters: The Board of Investments oversees the state’s consolidated asset pools and other funds. The nominees’ experience, ongoing review processes and the board’s operational controls affect pension returns, liquidity for state operations and oversight of loan programs that have delivered housing units and down-payment assistance.

The committee did not take additional formal action on program changes; members directed no specific follow-up in the hearing record. The committee record shows the nominees supported the board’s emphasis on fiduciary duty, external audits and stepped-up IT protections.

Ending: The committee moved on to additional resolutions and bills after finishing the confirmations.