Assembly Budget Committee Chair Gary S. Schaer on Tuesday questioned the $600 million in management fees the State Investment Council paid to private firms last year to oversee the state’s pension investments, reportedly among the highest paid in the nation.

“The state needs to re-examine all of its priorities and all of its spending. We need a better understanding as to why costs appear exorbitant when compared to other state -, almost 50 percent higher,” said Schaer.

Schaer, whose committee will hold its first public hearing on the proposed FY 2016 budget tomorrow in Collingswood, said he intends to examine this issue closely during the budget process.

“While management of our investment funds is a necessary expenditure, we must understand why the fees paid by New Jersey are among the highest in the nation? The state appears to have paid a significant amount on performance bonuses when our investment returns were positive, but not noteworthy in comparison to others. In fact New Jersey trailed the median returns of other similarly sized plans.

“These are all things we intend to seek answers to as we move forward with our Assembly budget hearings over the next several months,” concluded Schaer (D-Bergen/Passaic).

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