Hollywood producers refusal to bargain threatens public pension investments.

My teacher pension, one of five public pensions in Illinois, depends on three sources of revenue: Employee contributions, state contributions and investment returns.

Employee contributions have always been steady and reliable.

The state?

Not so much. Because of decades of underpayments and pension “holidays” where no money was paid, we are 60% underfunded.

Investments? There have been some good years and bad.

Investments are always a crap shoot.

In light of the strike by the Writers Guild and the Screen Actors Guild it is fair to ask how much of our retirement money is invested in the movie industry and how much is at risk?

I don’t know about the Illinois’s public pensions. Those who are responsible haven’t said much.

But trustees of New York City’s $250 billion pension funds have warned Disney, Paramount and Comcast that they risk losing investor confidence if they allow the Writers Guild and SAG-AFTRA strikes to drag on much longer.

The WGA has been on strike since May 2, and SAG-AFTRA since July 14.

In a letter to Disney CEO Bob Iger, New York state comptroller Bob Lander noted that the pension funds “are substantial long-term Disney shareholders of The Walt Disney Company, with approximately 2.7 million shares valued at $229.2 million.”

In a similar letter to Comcast chairman and CEO Brian Roberts, Lander noted that the pension funds “are substantial long-term Comcast shareholders, with approximately 6.3 million shares valued at $272.7 million.”

In letters to the Hollywood moguls, the trustees of the New York pension funds said that the pension funds have “long considered constructive labor management relations to be fundamental to effective human capital management and the creation of sustainable shareholder value.”

The five pension funds include the New York City Teachers’ Retirement System, the New York City Employees’ Retirement System, the New York City Police Pension Fund, the New York City Fire Pension Fund, and the New York City Board of Education Retirement System, which are collectively known by the acronym NYCRS.

Comptroller Brad Lander wrote to the producers:

“In addition to concerns that the WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes expose NYCRS’ investments to undue risk, I am also concerned that the underlying business practices which led to this conflict, if not resolved, may threaten the long-term stability of NYCRS’ investments in your company.”

It is a concern I hope is reflected by the board of trustees of Illinois TRS.