Are Coleman Stipanovich's days numbered?

A panicky raid by local governments on a state-run investment pool and move by state officials to temporarily suspend withdrawals raises a question: Do the three trustees of Florida's retirement system still have confidence in Coleman Stipanovich, executive director of the state Board of Administration?

The key to his future employment could be Chief Financial Officer Alex Sink, who was pointedly critical of Stipanovich last week at an emergency meeting where the suspension of withdrawals was imposed. (Gov. Charlie Crist closely followed Sink's lead; the third trustee is Attorney General Bill McCollum, who participated by speakerphone and whose body language can't be assessed).

"I can't comment on that right now. I am very, very focused on the investors," Sink said when asked if she has lost faith in Stipanovich's stewardship of state investments. "We, as a board, will have to evaluate performance in due time."

Stipanovich, who has worked for the state since 1999, earns $181,964 as executive director of the state Board of Administration. His educational background is in criminal justice administration, and he began his professional career as a sheriff's deputy in Gainesville and as a classification specialist in the state prison system.

Comments

All of our days are numbered. It's just that most of us are not in the double digits.

his professional background(sheriff's deputy/classification specialist) sounds like great credentials to run a multi-billion dollar state investment pool.
no wonder we're losing our shirts!
Mac must have gotten him the job.

Well, glad we elected as CFO someone with a background in financial services.

Sorry, folks, but I've got to blame Sink first, then Crist a little behind.

For the portfolios I handle for myself and family members, I dumped anything housing and mortgage related in 1Q 2007.

Of the 50 state pension plans, Florida's ranked 2nd in performance over the past few years. While other states have huge pension fund problems, Florida's pension fund carries a healthy surplus. It's easy during a market downturn to try and blame a fund manager, but Coleman is not the problem and there is no reason to go after him.

Nobody should blame Stipanovich for the panicky local governments trying to pull their money out. Nor can you blame him for the problems with subprime mortgage backed securities, which have infected the entire investment world.
As the earlier poster noted, Florida has an excellent record with their investments. Our losses on some of these will be far less than other states. Maybe he could have moved quicker, maybe not. But if you want to fire somebody, you don't really need a good reason, just a convenient one.

[Mr. Open Government]

Calling Cliff, Calling Cliff; Mr. Hinkle line one for you...

coleman's brother will make sure he is not fired. Mac is one of the governor's closest advisors and was one of the main reasons Crist won.