MOSERS to post staff pay online

St. Louis Business Journal

Friday, June 19, 2009

Compensation for the Missouri State Employees Retirement System's staff will now be posted on the system's Web site.

State Treasurer Clint Zweifel introduced the motion, which passed Thursday at the MOSERS board meeting.

Previously a Sunshine Law request was needed to obtain the information.

"We cannot have a full and open discussion and review of bonus pay if Missourians do not know the scope of what they are paying for at MOSERS and for their officials," Zweifel said.

The board also voted to conduct a study of the staff pay and how it compares to other states.

Public officials, including Gov. Jay Nixon, blasted staff pay after the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported that MOSERS investment managers were awarded nearly $460,000 in bonuses in February for their work in 2008, when the assets they managed decreased in value by about $1.8 billion.

MOSERS Executive Director Gary Findlay said critics of the bonuses should look at the performance of the fund and state investment managers over the long term. He said the state employees who received bonuses added $600 million to the value of the fund over the past five years.

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