Hawaii Employees’ Retirement System’s board of trustees "failed to properly manage the beneficiaries’ assets,” according to a management and performance audit conducted by the state. "Our analysis showed that the ERS’ total return on investments over the past five years ranked below the bottom 15% nationally when compared with other retirement systems,” according to the state auditor’s office.
The $7 billion system’s board and management, in a written response included in the audit report, said, "The report is based on many factual errors and appears to lack due diligence. The report demonstrates a lack of understanding of the complexity of the ERS’ systems, processes and procedures” and "unfairly fails to acknowledge positive trends in ERS performance.”
The audit was commissioned by the state legislature. New England Pension Consultants assisted.
