Documents from suit suggest the former Retirement Board Chairman had undisclosed dealings with two companies that provide services for the retirement system. Both firms gained their state contracts during Theobald's tenure overseeing the state's 4.7 billion dollar fund.
The two companies in question………Ohio-based Great Lakes Capital Partners, and New York- Based Pension Fund Evaluation are paid commissions for buying and selling securities on behalf of the New Hampshire Retirement System.……Great Lakes started its stint as a Retirement System commission broker in 2003.…..Pension Fund Evaluation began three years earlier…….Both firms have apparently performed for the Retirement System without incident, and both hires were voted on by the Retirement System's Board of trustees ……..But why either was considered in the first place remains unclear… Retirement System Spokesperson Kim France says staff are trying to piece together the paper trail.
"Based on the information we've seen to date there hasn't been anything specific to the selection process. It's certainly something that will be reviewed."
One of the things the Retirement System is looking into is whether Ed Theobald put the names of those companies forward….According to documents obtained by NHPR, Theobald's investment firm had private dealings with these companies totally apart from his work for state retirees…….Theobald is a principal in Maiden Lane Partners -- a firm whose business is connecting investors with people who need money. One of those clients, a Syracuse NY money manager J.W. Burns & Company paid Maiden Lane a total of 175,000 dollars to line them up with potential public sector investments….The firm is now suing Maiden Lane for deceiving them about prospective opportunities. Company President Jim Burns.
"Our legal action speaks for itself. I have no other comment except that we feel very strongly about the allegations set forth in our legal action."
Maiden Lane's lawyer says those allegations have no merit -- adding that a motion to dismiss will be filed next month …….But out of that pending suit emerged a letter from Maiden Lane to JW Burns & company. In that letter, written in 2001, a Maiden Lane says.
"……You know the status of this contact --we have had several breakfasts, lunches and dinners with Greg and George Phillips(sic). We look great in Ann Arbor (12/12) and will be plugged into several other searches following that victory."
The Philippses were the father and son team who ran Pension fund evaluations -- one the companies that got a contract with the state retirement system when Theobald was chairman…..The "victory" referenced in the letter never happened, nor did the Ann Arbor meeting. As it happened, that meeting fell the same week George Philipps was indicted on federal kickback charges. Theobald's lawyer in the Burns lawsuit, Syracuse NY attorney Paul Mullin says without the ability to authenticate the letter, he couldn't comment.
"Well, I have no idea what documents you have, whether it was accurate inaccurate, what it was used and for what it purports to show I can't answer that."
In that same letter, Theobald's partner states that that Patrick White, President of Great Lakes Capital Partners, is "willing to assist us with small/medium Ohio clients."…..Two years after that letter was written, White's firm came on board with the New Hampshire retirement system……When reached for comment on this story, Patrick White said his firm won its state business through an request for proposal or RFP process…..The retirement system says there are no RFP documents to back up that claim…….In Ohio, the Workers Compensation fund confirms that White and Great Lakes are part of an ongoing probe regarding losses there.
The upshot is, neither the state, nor pension fund beneficiaries had any knowledge of Theobald's dealings with these companies…Theobald did not mention them on his retirement system disclosure forms.
Going forward, the state is examining whether Theobald should have…..They are also reviewing the contracts with these two companies that came on board during his tenure. And regardless of what is ultimately learned about Ed Theobald, the system is looking at a variety of ways to prevent any potential blending of public and private business.
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