How the Dallas Police and Fire Pension System Will Deal With Nuts and Other ‘just Crazy' Investments

Pistachios and almonds are helping Dallas police and firefighters' retirement accounts these days, but too many other Dallas Police and Fire Pension System investments are paying peanuts -- or worse.The troubled $2.1 billion pension fund over the years sunk hundreds of millions of dollars into unusual investments such as raw land in Idaho, Asian infrastructure, taxis, oil and gas and South African timber.Untangling those investments -- made by previous pension leaders -- is now the focus of the new pension board, which has delved into its portfolio in recent meetings. Some of the board members, such as new Board Chairman Bill Quinn, were surprised to see just how nuts -- he actually said "just crazy" -- some of the past decisions appeared to be."I've been in the pension business with a lot of funds for a long time," Quinn said. "I just can't imagine how these things ever occurred. It's just mind-boggling that those kind of investments had been made."  Continue reading...