Oh please. If you're in charge of $160 billion, you better be one of the most sophisticated investors on the planet, and wield your extraordinary power to achieve the greatest returns for your stakeholders. Those fee agreements are clear as day. They should know precisely what can happen if they choose to pay fees on yearly gains instead of on net gains from inception.
Stupid people aren't victims; they're just stupid. The bankers had a responsibility to their shareholders to ask for the highest fees possible, and the managers of the $160 billion had a responsibility to say no. Looks like the bankers did their job.
1) The pension managers WERE some of the most sophisticated investors on the planet.
So what the hell happened? You originally called them "irresponsible." Now you've edited to call them "stupid." What's your theory about what happened to these world-class investors? My point being, they can't simultaneously be in the "most sophisticated" class, and also in the "irresponsible" / "stupid" class.
Kickbacks? Got overly greedy and mis-fired? It could happen to literally anyone? Bad luck?
2) The pension managers WERE NOT some of the most sophisticated investors on the planet.
I agree with your assessment that they SHOULD HAVE BEEN. So what the hell happened? Did they lie when they were hired? Did they have a great track record (luck?), but flubbed this? Or did the person who hired them and put them in charge (the mayor?) trust someone they shouldn't have?
The real victims are the pensioners, and this story should be investigated. If not on their behalf, then as a lesson for other pensioners, pension managers, and the people who manage pension managers.
I edited it because "irresponsible" wasn't strong enough in this case. What they did was idiotic. I think they were on the stupid side...with this kind of money floating around, any hint of kickbacks or corruption would quickly float to the surface. I'm sure that the funds they invested in were run by world class investors, but the pension manager(s) simply didn't understand the implications of the fee agreement.
I don't think that the pension managers were sophisticated, but rather were idiots. They went to world class bankers to deal with the money, who did a world class job of creating an awesome fee structure for themselves.
Stupid people aren't victims; they're just stupid. The bankers had a responsibility to their shareholders to ask for the highest fees possible, and the managers of the $160 billion had a responsibility to say no. Looks like the bankers did their job.