The Associated Press
reports that the CoinGate-related investment loss really isn't as bad as it sounds when compared to the overall returns of the entire portfolio.
Despite losses of $300 million, the state insurance system for injured workers has managed favorable returns on its investments, and experts say big losses are expected when large amounts of money are invested.
...
While the bureau could have bought a pro sports franchise with the money it lost on those investments, financial experts said the losses are less eye-popping in the context of the bureau's entire investment portfolio. These losses are the equivalent of about 2 percent of the current value of the bureau's insurance fund, about $14.3 billion, the bureau said.
...
The bureau said its investments returned 8.5 percent in 2004, slightly less than a financial consulting and management firm's survey of pension funds, endowments and other public and private trust funds. Wilshire Associates found that investments by those entities returned 11.6 percent in 2004.
The Ohio Chamber of Commerce, which represents many of the employers who pay into the bureau's insurance system, is concerned about the losses but remains pleased with the portfolio's overall results, said its president Andrew Doehrel.
"The overall portfolio has performed above averages and has brought immense dollars back into the system," he said. "In the aggregate, the funds have been doing the job they need to be doing."
Jason from State of the Union
reminds us of an important fact:
The bureau's largest investment loss happened with a firm run by a Democrat investment manager who contributed to Democrat campaigns and employed the Democrat daughter of a Democrat on the bureau's investment oversight commission. The firm also was represented in Ohio by a Democrat lobbyist.
This fact keeps getting swept under the rug by the media and their quest for Republican blood, but it is absolutely true.
