The Pennsylvania State Employees' Retirement System's board has recommended the hiring of Philadelphia law firm Obermayer Rebmann Maxwell & Hippel LLP as independent legal counsel to examine allegations against former chief investment officer Anthony Clark.
New SERS chairman Glenn Becker made the announcement after an executive session at a Jan. 22 board meeting. The $27 billion SERS is one of two statewide retirement plans for state employees. The other is the Public School Employees' Retirement System, or PSERS.
Becker, whom Gov. Tom Corbett appointed on Jan. 14, succeeded Nicholas Maiale. The state Office of the General Counsel will make the call on hiring Obermayer Rebmann.
Clark, 61, who resigned as of Dec. 31, is under investigation by the office regarding "allegations of impropriety," according to a memo from first executive deputy counsel Jarad Handelman, published in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
The office is focusing on whether Clark engaged in personal day-trading activities while on state time, and whether he failed to adequately advise the SERS board regarding a failed SERS investment by Tiger Asset Management.
Obermayer Rebmann, according to Becker, would "provide a comprehensive and timely assessment of and advice about how to proceed with regard to the recent allegations" against Clark. The scope, said Becker, may include the hiring of an independent professional services firm to review the system's investment due diligence processes.
According to Obermayer Rebmann's website, the law firm has offices in Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware, and affiliations with firms in Denver and New York.
