I was hopeful when the State Employees Association of North Carolina (SEANC) turned up the heat on North Carolina State Treasurer Janet Cowell to make changes to the North Carolina Retirement System (NCRS) pension investment operations and reporting by hiring professional pension investigator Ted Siedle and his firm Benchmark Alert. I was hopeful when Treasurer Cowell announced the formation of the Investment Fiduciary Governance Commission to evaluate the State Treasurer's management of the NCRS. I was hopeful when Treasurer Cowell's Governance Commission issued recommended changes that addressed many of Mr. Siedle's concerns and echoed many of my suggestions. Hopeful, but skeptical.
