Letters to the Editor

We wish to provide two points of clarification with regard to Pensions & Investments' Nov. 1 "Nationwide vs. Great-West" article, which concerns the plan administrator selection process for the Los Angeles Deferred Compensation Plan:

1. The article accurately states that Great-West proposed a $25 per participant investment advice fee that would only apply to participants who actually elect to use the service. Alternatively, we had previously discussed with the board the option of including the cost of investment advice in the basic fee, rather than just charging users of the service. Based on the utilization rates we discussed with the board, this alternative would add an across-the-board $2.50 to our base fee of $47.50. Under this option, our fee would be $50 per participant vs. the $59 per participant proposed by Nationwide. Great-West believes that either option presents a significant cost advantage over Nationwide.

2. Mr. McCleave of Nationwide fails to point out that Great-West outscored Nationwide in both the consultant evaluation and the staff evaluation. The staff evaluation awarded Great-West a score of 875.6 vs. 842.4 for Nationwide. The consultant evaluation awarded Great-West a score of 809.9 vs. 709.7 for Nationwide. Both evaluations were independent and used scoring criteria previously specified by the board members.

Given these facts, it's certainly understandable that people would question the outcome of the bid process. Consequently, we appreciate Ms. Feinberg's and P&I's ongoing coverage of this issue, and just as important, we applaud the actions taken by the City Council, the union and thousands of city employees who are committed to ensuring that the bid process results in the selection of the provider that best serves the interests of the plan and its participants.

Gregory E. Seller

senior vice president

government markets

Great-West Retirement Services

Irvine, Calif.

The decision by the California State Personnel Board to replace labor leader Sean Harrigan as its representative on the CalPERS board makes a bold statement.

California Public Employees' Retirement System trustees should not be overreaching with their private personal agendas as they monitor the retirement investments for thousands of California government workers.

As a CalPERS trustee, Mr. Harrigan continued to push social and political agendas at the nation's largest public employee retirement fund that were aligned with his "day job" as executive director of the United Food and Commercial Workers' Southern California council. As a labor leader, one cannot take the stage next to a giant rat and lead a labor gathering in chants — "this is not just about the food industry; this is about the entire labor movement" — as Mr. Harrigan did at a February rally in New York, without also reflecting on his role as a CalPERS trustee and public official who wields significant influence over the nation's financial markets.

Not having Mr. Harrigan on the CalPERS board is good, conflict-free corporate governance.

Robert M. Brower

president

R. Brower Associates

Irvine, Calif.

Due to an erroneous change in reporting methodology, Wells Fargo & Co. understated its numbers for the report of defined contribution service providers in the Nov. 29 Pensions & Investments. Following are the corrected totals for the main categories in the survey, presented in tables on pages 15-17.

As of June 30, Wells Fargo had $33.375 billion in assets, 854,892 participants and 2,429 sponsors for defined contribution plans.

Also, Wells Fargo had $17.5 billion in total and internal assets under investment management for defined contribution plans as of the same date.

Sean Thomas

executive vice president

Wells Fargo Institutional

Trust Services

San Francisco