Stand for Pension Integrity

The Arkansas General Assembly

Arkansas pension funds — the retirement savings of teachers, troopers, and public employees — authorized up to $100 million in non-tradable foreign sovereign debt. Not one independent analysis was produced to show it was a sound place for that money.

$100 million authorized pension-fund exposure
1,227 public records obtained through FOIA
0 independent credit analyses found

What the public record shows

  • These bonds can't be sold before maturity, and all three major rating agencies have downgraded the issuer's credit since 2024.
  • The credit risk was no secret inside state government — the State Treasury's own investment staff had already flagged the downgrades. The pension boards authorized these bonds anyway, without independent analysis of their own.
  • The normal, manager-driven process was bypassed. An ATRS board chair cast a lone “no” vote over how the decision was made.

What we're asking for

We're not asking anyone to buy or sell a single bond. We're asking for the basic fiduciary process Arkansas law already requires — in writing, before the vote, any time a pension plan buys non-tradable sovereign debt:

  1. Independent credit analysis
  2. A written comparison against comparable alternatives
  3. Disclosure of the investment's liquidity risk
  4. A documented determination that it meets the financial-merit standard
  5. Public posting of that analysis within 30 days

That's the Pension Investment Integrity Act, headed to the 2027 legislative session. Add your name and tell Arkansas's pension boards and the General Assembly: invest our retirement on the merits — and show the work.

To: The Arkansas General Assembly
From: [Your Name]

We, the undersigned Arkansans, ask the General Assembly to ensure our public retirement savings are invested on financial merit — the standard Arkansas law already requires of pension fiduciaries.

Arkansas pension funds have authorized up to $100 million in non-tradable foreign sovereign debt without any independent analysis showing it was a sound use of beneficiaries' money. We are not asking any board to buy or sell a particular investment. We are asking you to require a documented, on-the-record process before any Arkansas pension plan acquires non-tradable sovereign debt:

1. an independent credit analysis;
2. a written comparison against comparable alternatives;
3. disclosure of the investment's liquidity risk;
4. a written determination that it meets the financial-merit standard the law requires; and
5. public posting of that analysis within thirty days.

Enact the Pension Investment Integrity Act in the 2027 session. Our retirement should be invested on the merits — and the analysis should be on the record.

Arkansans for Pension Integrity is a grassroots campaign for fiduciary process and financial merit — we are not asking any pension board to buy or sell any specific investment. By adding your name, you'll receive occasional updates about this campaign; we never sell, rent, or share your information, and you can unsubscribe at any time.