JAMESTOWN, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Rep. Bernie Satrom (R-Dist. 12) today called for full disclosure of all contracts between the State Investment Board (SIB) and its external consultants and money managers responsible for investing Legacy Fund tax dollars.
In a formal request submitted to SIB Executive Director Janilyn Murtha, Satrom emphasized concerns over what he describes as a “cover-up” of investment details by the SIB. “We know the State Investment Board is covering up investments the money managers are making,” Satrom stated, according to a media release. “Now we need to find out if they are covering up the contracts they have with these money managers.”
The move follows an earlier open records request by Bismarck attorney Tory Jackson, who sought a list of Legacy Fund investments in foreign countries. The request was denied, with nearly $800 million in foreign investments left undisclosed. In the wake of this denial, the District 12 legislative delegation—comprising Senator Cole Conley and Reps. Satrom and Mitch Ostlie—identified an additional $2.3 billion in “commingled” investments controlled by out-of-state managers and kept from public view.
The delegation’s findings of undisclosed investments, totaling over $3.1 billion, have spurred their intent to propose the Legacy Fund Transparency Act in the upcoming legislative session. If passed, the act would mandate regular publication of every Legacy Fund investment.
Jackson, in a letter to Attorney General Drew Wrigley, asserted that SIB may be allowing its money managers to bypass state open records laws, possibly by invoking confidentiality clauses in their contracts. “It is possible,” Jackson wrote, “that the RIO is relying on confidentiality provisions contained in its contracts with the money managers, but RIO cannot contract its way around the open records requirements under state law.” The State Investment Board, through the state Retirement and Investment Office (RIO), manages Legacy Fund investments.
Satrom underscored the importance of contract transparency for taxpayer oversight. “The bottom line is this – we need to see the contracts,” he said. “The taxpayers’ money cannot be buried in a financial black hole controlled only by out-of-state money managers.”