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Ben Westlund
Oregon State Treasurer
Ben Westlund directs the prudent investment of billions of dollars of Oregon’s money.
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Tomorrow's Money
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February 24, 2010
Oregon Investment Council
9:00am
PERS Headquarters Building
11410 SW 68th Parkway
Tigard, OR 97223
April 28, 2010
Oregon Investment Council
9:00am
PERS Headquarters Building
11410 SW 68th Parkway
Tigard, OR 97223
April 29, 2010
Oregon Short-Term Fund Board Meeting
10:00 am – 12:00 pm
Location TBD
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(February 2, 2010) The Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund has been nominated by a financial industry publication as the nation’s best large public plan of 2009, thanks to top-tier investment management by the Oregon State Treasury.
The nomination comes on the heels of a year when investment managers guided gains of more than 19 percent, which helped the fund to recover much of the losses from the historic Wall Street nosedive in 2008.
“Oregon’s investment officers consistently outperform their peers in both good and bad times,” said State Treasurer Ben Westlund. “This nomination is a welcome reminder of the excellent work they are doing to save Oregonians money.”
Strong investment gains reduce the percentage of future pension obligations that will be borne by public employers and taxpayers.
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(February 1, 2010) Oregon State Treasurer Ben Westlund is applauding the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission for taking steps to reduce uncertainty for investors when it comes to climate-related risks and opportunities.
Westlund was among the representatives of 20 major institutional investors that jointly submitted a petition in 2009 to the SEC, asking for greater transparency because investors will ultimately pay -- or profit – based on how well situated companies are when it comes to climate change.
The new guidance by the SEC, announced last week, clarified that publicly-traded companies need to disclose climate-related “material” effects on business operations, whether from new emissions management policies, the physical impacts of changing weather or business opportunities associated with the growing clean energy economy.
“Oregonians will benefit from more transparency to guide the investment of public assets,” Treasurer Westlund said. “As a major investor, Oregon can help to change the landscape … and help to ensure investors know whether corporations are prepared to thrive in a changing world.”
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(January 29, 2010) March will be a notable month for Oregon families who are doing the right thing and saving for college and job training in the Oregon College Savings Plan, as a result of decisions Thursday by the Oregon 529 College Savings Board.
First, college savers will receive their shares of a $20 million legal settlement to reimburse for losses due to the management of the OppenheimerFunds Core Bond Fund, which was previously part of the plan portfolio.
The landmark settlement resolved a lawsuit that was filed by the Oregon 529 College Savings Board on behalf of plan participants. The settlement will be shared by an estimated 45,000 families, and was announced in November by State Treasurer Ben Westlund, the college savings board chairman, and Attorney General John Kroger.
Also in March, an improved college savings network will debut with an expanded fund lineup, a better website and lower fees for families, when New York-based TIAA-CREF Tuition Financing Inc. assumes the administration of the direct-sold Oregon plan.
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(January 28, 2010) Oregon’s past investment decisions have helped to make the state’s pension fund among the best-funded in the nation, and the Oregon Investment Council is launching a comprehensive review to help keep it that way.
The new asset-liability study was launched Wednesday in a joint meeting of the Oregon Investment Council, which oversees the asset mix of the fund, and the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System Board, which oversees the payment of benefits.
The $51.5 billion Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund is the largest trust fund in the state’s investment portfolio, and the performance of the fund impacts all Oregonians.
“We are doing the responsible thing and embarking on a complete review of the investment structure of the fund,” said Harry Demorest, OIC chairman and the former chief executive at Columbia Forest Products Inc. “We want to maximize returns with acceptable risk, but the question is how much risk is acceptable.”
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(January 26, 2010) Oregon State Treasurer Ben Westlund on Tuesday applauded the apparent voter passage of Measures 66 and 67, which will maintain the balanced budget passed by the 2009 Legislature.
The budget relies on $2 billion in program reductions and roughly $730 million in new revenue. That revenue was at stake in the two ballot measures.
“Voters today reinforced Oregon’s national reputation for fiscal discipline, which will favorably impact our future credit ratings and our ability to finance job-creating projects,” said Treasurer Westlund. “There’s a reason why it’s called fiscal discipline: It’s hard … But it’s important to ensure that sustainable revenue will pay for education, public safety and other vital programs.”
A credit rating firm, Standard and Poor’s, had signaled in October 2009 that a repeal of the revenue measures could adversely affect the state’s ratings.
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(January 22, 2010) The Oregon State Treasury is saving public money and increasing government efficiency through advances such as online banking.
Making statements available online gives Treasury banking customers, which include state agencies and local governments, quicker access to critical financial information while reducing postage, labor and paper costs. In 2009, customers of the State Treasury viewed a record-setting 2.4 million pages online.
“Saving money is what we do,” said State Treasurer Ben Westlund. “The Oregon State Treasury is constantly looking for innovations to make government work smarter and to stretch public dollars further.”
State agencies began shifting from mailed statements to online versions in 2004 now all of them receive their statements exclusively online. Local government customers of the Treasury could access account data online starting in 2006. The electronic statements are updated daily, and can be accessed anytime through a secure Internet portal. Banking customers can access three years of account data electronically.
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(January 18, 2010) There’s a saying that it takes money to make money -- and with that in mind, the Oregon State Treasury is putting more than $100 million to work in Oregon communities to help families and to create jobs.
“The State Treasury is putting money to work to build a better Oregon, from Bandon to Beaverton to Baker City,” said Treasurer Westlund. “We want banks to make more loans to help rebuild Oregon’s economy, and at the same time we can generate modest investment returns for the state and for local governments.”
Qualified financial institutions can obtain funds at market rates from the Oregon Short-Term Fund, which safely invests state and local government revenues until the depositors need the money to pay bills. Once banks receive the infusions of capital, the institutions can make more loans to Oregon small businesses and families, which in turn can help finance new opportunities.
As of the January order deadline, which occurred Monday, the Oregon Short-Term Fund is now depositing roughly $110 million in banks that do business in Oregon, and there’s more available.
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(January 15, 2010) Oregon State Treasurer Ben Westlund on Friday welcomed Marion County Treasurer Laurie Steele to the state board that guides the safe investment of $11 billion in assets for the state and its cities, counties and other local governments.
Laurie J. Steele, who has served as Marion County Treasurer since 2002, was appointed this week to the Oregon Short-Term Fund Board and will formally join the seven-member panel at its meeting on Jan. 26 in Portland.
The Oregon Short-Term Fund is a little-known but important repository that includes the Local Government Investment Pool. The fund protects and invests state and local government revenues until the entities need their money to pay bills.
“Laurie Steele is a respected voice among government financial officers and will be a strong addition to the Short-Term Fund Board at the Oregon State Treasury,” said Treasurer Westlund.
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(January 6, 2010) The state of Oregon is trying to return more than $360 million in unclaimed property to more than 1 million rightful owners.
Oregon State Treasurer Ben Westlund is encouraging Oregonians to invest a little time – but no money – to learn if they are on that list. It’s a New Year’s Resolution that may pay dividends.
“More than 1 million people have money waiting to be claimed and you might be one of them,” Treasurer Westlund said. “Take a moment and do a free search. You might be pleasantly surprised.”
Each year, the state is sent millions worth of financial assets such as the balances of inactive bank accounts, unpaid wages or commissions, life insurance policies or utility deposits because the owners of the assets cannot be located. The assets are held for safekeeping in perpetuity for those owners or their heirs.
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(December 30, 2009) The accomplishments of the Oregon State Treasury in 2009 are helping to create jobs, protect the public and save Oregonians money.
Families of college savers will share a landmark $20 million settlement and an improved, lower-cost Oregon College Savings Plan. Oregonians and other retail buyers snapped up state bonds in record amounts as part of the new “Buy Oregon Bonds” campaign, and those proceeds are paying for job-creating projects across the state.
The Oregon Investment Council earned attention for the nation’s first set of principles that seek better terms and more transparency of private equity investments. The state filed lawsuits and pushed for corporate reforms to protect investors. And the state’s portfolio rebounded after the market collapse of 2008.
Those efforts were guided by the staff at the Oregon State Treasury under the leadership of Treasurer Ben Westlund, who was sworn in as the state’s 27th Treasurer in January.
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(December 17, 2009) State Treasurer Ben Westlund has a suggestion for how Oregon schoolchildren can pass the time during the upcoming holiday break -- and it’s an idea that could pay dividends.
How about curling up with a book, learning about how money works, and earning a chance at a college scholarship?
You can do all of the above through the Oregon State Treasury’s financial literacy program for elementary-aged youths, known as “Reading is an Investment.” As part of the outreach effort, 726 school libraries from border-to-border received two donated books that can help students better understand financial concepts, such as the value of saving and the peril of debt.
“Helping our next generation to better understand money is a gift that will keep giving,” Treasurer Westlund said. “We all will be better served by equipping kids to make wise decisions in an increasingly complicated financial world.”
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