APSR’s Hill talks about keeping politics out of pensions

Among the goals of the Alliance for Prosperity and a Secure Retirement (APSR) is getting politics out of public pensions. In an extended interview with Capitol Account, Tim Hill,  retired firefighter and current president of APSR, said elected officials’ aggressive focus on using public pensions to further their own political beliefs in the broader environmental, social, and governance (ESG) debate endangers investment returns for current and future retirees, and is also likely to drive up taxpayer costs.

“We’re seeing different political forces saying, ‘You can only invest this way, you can’t invest that way.’ And it was based on whatever their political, social agenda, grounding was,” he said.

“There were a lot of red lights flashing for us, because we could see the danger to our pension funds and also to the individual pension fund trustees, who are, for the most part, volunteers.”

Hill emphasized APSR wants state and federal legislators to keep their politics out of the way.

“We have a very clean purpose and a very clean message. It’s not pro-[Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion], it’s not anti-DEI. It’s not pro-oil, anti-oil. It’s not pro-ESG, anti-ESG,” he said. “Our policy point is: We’re not the ones that should make that decision. And to elected officials: Neither are you… Stay out of the business of our pension funds. Let them invest as they see best.”

When asked about the group’s political alignment, Hill said most ESG-related legislation has come from conservative states. But that’s not the only source of concern.

“Somebody had submitted a letter to the editor … demanding that the state divest of all oil stocks. We’re opposed to that,” Hill said. “If the pension fund says, ‘We believe it’s in the best long-term interest of the fund, its returns, and all of its assets to do that?’ That’s their business. If they think they should go buy a million shares of Exxon tomorrow, they should do that. I’m not the investment expert, and I know state Senator John Doe from so-and-so is not either.”

Hill also talked about expanding the membership ranks of newly formed APSR and when asked if some businesses fear getting involved in political fights, he pointed to the risks of staying on the sidelines.

“There’s also a broad recognition that you can’t just stand by and get hit by the truck. You’ve got to stop the truck,” Hill said. “So, it’s a mixed bag. But I think a lot of people are starting to see and take notice of what we were able to do in just a few months — that we are willing to make – I’ll call it – sufficient and appropriate noise. Not just be bomb-throwers but have an appropriate position and carry it out responsibly.”

You can read the interview in full HERE.