Pension Fight Club
Directed by Doug OrchardPG-13
87m[Documentary](/on-demand/category/documentary)Private Equity is funded primarily from public pension funds. All public monies by law must be transparent, yet over the past 30 years, Wall Street has made the agreements between the staff at the public pension funds and the private equity firms secret. During this time the pension funds all became "underfunded" despite the amazing stock market growth. Nearly 1/2 of all public monies are now "swept" into "secrecy accounts." This film consists of primary interviews with those seeking greater transparency called the 'Pension Fight Club.' Interviews include state treasurers, board members of public pension funds, trustees, whistleblowers, legislatures, unions, retiree associations, and pension recipients. Notably, these states span the political spectrum, from Red to Blue and Purple. Despite this diversity, the underlying issues remain consistent: those in fiduciary roles are denied access to the contracts reviewed and signed by staff of these private equity and private debt deals. Any attempt to review these contracts or make policy changes that meet their fiduciary duty is met with significant backlash, such as lawsuits filed by the Attorney General of the state (like in Ohio) or suspiciously well-funded campaigns against these board members.
