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State Treasurer seeks staff and technology funding to manage sharply larger investment portfolios
Summary
The State Treasurer told the committee portfolio balances and transaction volumes have jumped and requested roughly $2 million (42% increase) to add a CIO, a chief investment officer and portfolio staff plus technology and licensing to maintain internal controls and expand LGIP management.
The State Treasurer briefed the committee about rapid growth in the state’s invested assets and sought funding to add investment and IT professionals. The treasurer said the Local Government Investment Pool (LGIP) has grown substantially, trade volumes have increased, and the State Investment Council/treasury portfolios require additional staff, controls and technology to sustain performance and reduce operational risk.
The treasurer said the office managed roughly $19.4 billion as of June 30, with LGIP balances and an emerging medium‑term pool growing sharply; the office reported $722 million in investment earnings for the year and said the state retained $580 million of that amount while local participants received the remainder. To preserve earnings and strengthen internal controls, the treasurer requested approximately $2.0 million in additional annual operating funds to add four key positions (a chief investment officer, a chief information officer and portfolio managers) and to pay for Bloomberg, pre‑trade compliance and other specialized systems.
Why it matters: the treasurer argued that actively managing large pools requires experienced senior staff and robust IT and compliance tools; the office cited external and DoIT audits recommending separation of trading and oversight and the addition of a CIO to manage cybersecurity and systems.
Key details: the request would fund four senior roles (compensation estimates were conservative but intended to be market‑competitive), additional licenses and data feeds, and incremental LGIP admin fee coverage. The treasurer proposed using a portion of LGIP admin earnings the office has generated rather than new general fund recurring dollars; the office asked the committee to allow retaining about $1.5M of LGIP admin revenue to cover part of the request and requested the remainder from appropriations.
Next steps: members asked for the external audit reports and for documentation showing prior reversions and how the LGIP fee revenue could be shifted into operating categories; the treasurer agreed to provide the audits and to work with the committee on options.
