THURSDAY, JANUARY 21, 2016 Earned state $28.2M in ’15, treasurer says

Milligan: Active investing yielded best result in years

State Treasurer Dennis Milligan’s office earned $28.2 million on investments of $3.6 billion for Arkansas last year — $7.7 million more in 2015 than his predecessors’ yearly average for the state since 2012, Milligan said Wednesday.

The Benton Republican, who was sworn in Jan. 13, 2015, said his office’s increased earnings on the state’s investments resulted from the office’s investment team taking a more active role in managing the state’s portfolio, without any increase in interest rates except for the Federal Reserve raising interest rates by a quarter point in December, nor an increase in the amount of state funds invested by the office.

“We actually took money from our overnight money market accounts into commercial paper … low-producing agency bonds and moved those into better yielding mortgage-based securities,” Milligan said in an interview.

“It’s not like we were given some magic tool or something that enabled us to show better strategy than the previous administration,” he said later.

The state treasurer’s office earned $20.2 million on investments of $3.6 billion in 2014, $20.1 million on investments of $3.4 billion in 2013, and $20.9 million on investments of $3.3 billion in 2012, according to the treasurer’s office.

The treasurer’s office earned $44.4 million for the state in 2005, $87.3 million in

2006, $112.5 million in 2007, $95.9 million in 2008, $47.5 million in 2009, $34.5 million in 2010, and $21.9 million in 2011, according to the state Department of Finance and Administration.

Also on Wednesday, Milligan said that the state’s Section 529 college-savings program saw its total assets under management increase by 3 percent from $306 million in 2014 to $314 million in 2015.

Total contributions to the program increased by 30 percent from $29.8 million in 2014 to $38.7 million in 2015 as a result of his office’s aggressive promotion of the program in the past year, the treasurer said.

Milligan succeeded self-described independent and former Legislative Auditor Charles Robinson of North Little Rock as treasurer.

Robinson had been appointed by Democratic Gov. Mike Beebe in May 2013 after state Treasurer Martha Shoffner of Newport, also a Democrat, resigned after her arrest on an extortion charge.

Last August, Shoffner was sentenced to 30 months in federal prison after a federal jury found her guilty of six counts of extortion, one count of attempted extortion and seven counts of receipt of bribery in connection with a series of cash payments she received from broker Steele Stephens between 2010 and 2013.

Shoffner succeeded Democrat Gus Wingfield of Delight as state treasurer in 2007.

In March, Milligan agreed to pay Republican Attorney General Leslie Rutledge’s office a $1,000 penalty for violating the state’s nepotism law after he hired his cousin for a $63,000-a-year job at the treasurer’s office. He also reimbursed the state $6,941.62 for the pay earned by his cousin, Sam Swayze.

Since May, Milligan’s office

has been battling a former treasurer’s office employee in court.

Milligan terminated former outreach manager David Singer from a $65,000-a-year job on April 27. Singer later filed a defamation lawsuit against Milligan and Jim Harris, Milligan’s chief of staff. Milligan and Harris have disputed Singer’s allegations.

In August, Matt Campbell, a Little Rock lawyer and blogger, filed a wide-ranging complaint with the Arkansas Ethics Commission against Milligan.

Milligan has disputed Campbell’s charges. The commission is scheduled Friday to consider whether there is probable cause to find that Milligan violated state law, according to commission Director Graham Sloan’s letter to Campbell dated Jan. 12.

Asked Wednesday whether he’s touting his office’s investment earnings and programs to counter the controversies, Milligan said, “I think you can divide the responsibilities, the successes of the office, and then put a slash and then put the politics aside.

“And unfortunately, the politics side has certainly been something that is concerning,” Milligan said. “I certainly made a mistake — not an intentional mistake — when I hired my cousin. But I made it whole. I went above and beyond by paying even the salary that was paid to him back. I was not required to do that.

“Again, the politics part is just a part of politics,” he said.

Asked if he is suggesting the defamation lawsuit and ethics complaint were filed against him for political reasons, Milligan declined to comment.

“I don’t think we will comment on that,” added Milligan spokesman Grant Wallace.