Six months before former state Treasurer Richard Moore left office, the North Carolina pension fund that he oversaw invested more than $500 million in the investment fund firm that now employs him, the Insider reports.

Moore was named a managing director at San Diego-based Relational Investors in April of this year. The office of current Treasurer Janet Cowell confirmed that in July 2008 the pension fund signed an agreement to make a substantial investment with Relational Investors. The investment, as of Sept. 30, was valued at $508,623,784. It was the pension fund's first and only investment with the firm.

Ralph Whitworth, founding director of Relational Investors, said the investment and Moore's hiring were completely unrelated.

"If it creates a perception, that's unfortunate. Richard, after he left the state treasurer's office, was one of the most sought-after persons in finance," Whitworth said. "We were totally excited."

UPDATE: Moore responds to the story in an email to Dome. (After the jump.)

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North Carolina's state pension fund was buoyed in the third quarter by the stock market's slight rebound, State Treasurer Janet Cowell announced Monday.

Third quarter returns were 10.44 percent, and the fund's returns for the year are 12.26 percent.

The fund's value rose from $60.2 billion at the end of June to $65.8 billion at the end of September.

Cowell cautioned that the stock market remains volatile and the fund is still well below its 2007 peak of $77 billion, meaning that the legislature will need to appropriate more money to offset last year's losses.

The state's college students don't know enough about managing money and debt and get themselves in trouble, state Treasurer Janet Cowell learned on a debt tour of college campuses.

Cowell visited four campuses, Wake Tech, Alamance Community College, Fayetteville State University and High Point University and met with 53 students. She found that students were using credit cards for every day purchases and getting into trouble with debt.

"This experience, along with national research, has demonstrated the need for programs that can assist and educate students on debt and its consequences," Cowell said. 

In a report, Cowell made six recommendations for new programs that could help students make better choices. Her report included resources that could help the state pay for the changes.

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North Carolina's former chief investment officer, Pat Gerrick, asked some of her then-subordinates in the state treasurer's office to help her daughter with college homework.

In April 2007, Gerrick provided her daughter, Meredith, with the email addresses for five members of Gerrick's staff, who are charged with overseeing the state pension fund, currently worth more than $60 billion, according to emails provided under a public records request. The staff members responded with answers to several questions from an investment-oriented group project for Meredith Gerrick. The staff members included the operations manager for the investment management division and the fixed income portfolio manager.

Gerrick was fired by State Treasurer Janet Cowell in August amid questions about travel expenses and cell phone bills. Questions have also been raised about Gerrick's relationships with firms that did business with the state.

Gerrick said last week that she asked her staff for help with the homework but made clear it was not an order.

"I just sent it around," Gerrick said. "I think you’ll see on the email, it says, 'If you have time, if you want to do it.'"

They won't go: Finding a way to keep 20 inmates convicted of rape, murder or assault in prison allows Gov. Beverly Perdue to take a 'tough on crime' stance at a time when polls show her popularity has tanked, writes Rob Christensen. (N&O)

It's about relationships: Pat Gerrick, fired in August from her job overseeing the state's $60 billion-plus pension fund, said firms doing business with the state offered her favors but she did not accept them, writes Mark Johnson.  (N&O)

State Treasurer Janet Cowell announced the creation of a new, 11-member commission to make recommendations for sustaining and strengthening the state pension fund.

The commission, whose members have not been named, will craft proposals for, among other needs: providing adequate retirement income, managing investments and their risks and attracting and retaining the workforce that state and local governments need.

Cowell, who oversees the state pension fund, made the announcement during a pre-retirement planning and workforce symposium at N.C. State University Friday. She said the current economic crisis provides an opportunity to design a retirement system for the state's future workforce.

"Hopefully North Carolina can be a model for a how a public plan can evolve through these times," Cowell said in a prepared statement, "and still have a strong, secure, and safe retirement for the people who lead a life of public service."

North Carolina's state pension fund fell below the fully funded mark last year for the first time since 1997, State Treasurer Janet Cowell reported Thursday.

The state retirement system was 99.3 percent funded as of Dec. 31, 2008, which means it had slightly less money than it needs to pay the retirement benefits that are projected for the future, Mark Johnson reports. That estimation by actuaries is compiled once a year.

The funding level is likely to continue to decline as investment losses from the recession are spread over several years, Cowell cautioned in a prepared statement.

"State and local governments will need to continue to budget for increased contributions to the system,” she said.

The pension fund still ranks as one of the top five in the nation and remains funded well above the national average of 80 percent, Cowell's office said, quoting the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. In 2007, the system was overfunded at 104.7 percent.

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The three financial rating agencies have given North Carolina a AAA rating in the wake of a budget crisis.

The rating is the highest possible and the three rating agencies, Moody's, Standard & Poor's and Fitch Ratings affirmed the top score, which like an individual credit score is a measure of credit-worthiness and financial security. North Carolina is one of only seven states to have the top score.

"The Governor and the General Assembly have been effective in managing serious financial and budgetary pressure during this tough climate,” said state Treasurer Janet Cowell, who announced the ratings Tuesday afternoon. "It is a vote of confidence for the state that we have been able to maintain this rating through the first year of the economic crisis."

In the political world the possibility of having a rating lowered is often tossed out as a dire warning against, for example, furloughing state workers.

For Democrats, who control state government, the AAA rating could serve as evidence that a decision to cut spending and raise taxes was the best way to cope with a budget crisis and deep recession. Of course, the words "AAA bond rating" probably don't have the same power as "raised your taxes," which is what Republicans, who are aiming to control the legislature, will be pointing out frequently.

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KEYNOTERS ANONYMOUS: The state Democratic Party holds its annual fundraiser, gabfest and politicking party, the Vance-Aycock dinner this weekend in Asheville. After a nail-biting delay, organizers finally announced the keynote speaker, Jean Carnahan, who served as a U.S. Senator from Missouri for two years. After last year's dinner, which featured an appearance by then-candidate Barack Obama, this year's event promises to be a veritable "Who's That?" of Democratic politics.

AROUND THE WORLD: State Sen. Steve Goss, a Boone Democrat, had to correct his campaign finance reports this week to reflect that he did not incur $19,000 worth of mileage reimbursements in a four-month period. That amount of driving would have taken the senator around the world nearly twice. Hope he gets good gas mileage.

BRING IT ON: The State Board of Elections announced plans to hold a hearing into the campaign finance irregularities of former Democratic Gov. Mike Easley. Gov. Beverly Perdue was quick to issue a statement welcoming the hearings. The statement seemed designed to accomplish two goals: 1) re-inforce Perdue's pledge to keep government clean. 2) Remind voters that she is not Easley.

IN OTHER NEWS: Treasurer Janet Cowell updates her office's ethics policy. New laws take effect, including one that legalizes affairs for couples who are all-but divorced. The Wake County Democratic chairman cautions would-be seekers of a state House seat that keeping the job is going to require some serious fundraising.

Cowell announced four policy changes meant to increase public insight into the areas where the state's money managers interact with the private sector.

"The top priority for this administration is transparency, ethics and accountability," said Cowell, a Democrat. "These policies represent additional steps in instilling public confidence in our investment-making decisions."

The changes come after disclosures that Cowell fired her chief investment officer, Pat Gerrick. The termination came after Gerrick reimbursed Cowell's office $3,000 for personal phone calls and updated her state ethics disclosure to show that she had travel paid for by non-state employees who were managers of the state's retirement fund.

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