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This story was produced by the Oregon Journalism Project<\/a>, a nonprofit newsroom covering the state.<\/p>\n Sixteen Democratic lawmakers want Oregon State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner to conduct what they say is a long overdue comprehensive audit of the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund.<\/p>\n In an Aug. 3 letter, the lawmakers told Steiner, a fellow Democrat, they are concerned about the fund\u2019s overreliance on private equity to boost returns.<\/p>\n \u201cWe believe this imbalance would have been addressed much earlier if Treasury and the Oregon Investment Council had conducted investment program audits.\u201d<\/p>\n Oregon law<\/a> requires a comprehensive audit of the giant fund every four years, but it\u2019s been 10 years since the last one.<\/p>\n Lawmakers\u2019 concerns about the state\u2019s private equity investments have grown since an OJP investigation<\/a> in August 2025 found that Treasury staff and its oversight council invested billions of dollars more than their own targets called for in private equity.<\/p>\n The Oregon Investment Council, which oversees the fund, established a target of 20% for private equity, but as of May 2025 the fund had 27% invested in that asset class. That translated to about $7 billion of excess investment in private equity. It was a costly decision because the publicly traded stock fund\u2014which was 10 percentage points<\/a> under its target\u2014was booming. Put another way, the council and Treasury didn\u2019t follow investment advice from the independent experts they hired to advise them how best to allocate investments\u2014and public employee pensions suffered as a result.<\/p>\n Private equity investments\u2014which now account for 23.3% of the $104 billion fund\u2014have produced results significantly below the OPERF benchmark every year over the past decade except one. OPERF\u2019s private equity holdings<\/a> to date this year have fallen 0.03%.<\/p>\n \u201cThe concern over excessive investment in private equity, in terms of both transparency and the reliability of return on investment, goes back many years,\u201d wrote Sen. Jeff Golden (D-Rogue Valley) and 15 Democratic lawmakers<\/a> in a letter Monday to Steiner and the investment council, whose volunteer members are appointed by the governor.<\/p>\n The letter noted that lawmakers met with Steiner in December about the \u201cserious imbalance\u201d of investment in private equity, but \u201cgiven the delay that has occurred\u2026it is imperative\u201d that a comprehensive audit be completed and shared with the public within 12 months, they wrote.<\/p>\n \u201cIt seems like an extremely modest request to provide the audit that the law requires,\u201d Golden told OJP. \u201cThat doesn\u2019t feel like bomb throwing to me.\u201d<\/p>\n In an Aug. 4 reply to the lawmakers, Steiner said Treasury staff has been auditing the retirement fund\u2019s different asset classes on a rotating basis, and in the past three years conducted five audits, including for public and private equity and fixed income assets. This approach satisfies the law and is superior to an all-encompassing audit every four years, Steiner said in her reply letter.<\/p>\n The chair of the Oregon Investment Council<\/a>, Alline Akintore, did not immediately return a call seeking comment.<\/p>\n The state Public Employees Retirement System is responsible for paying pensions to 166,000 current and 249,000 future retirees. To do that, it charges each city, county, school district, and public employer about 27 cents on every payroll dollar and sends the money to OPERF to invest. The fund uses investment gains to pay pensioners.<\/p>\n The 16 lawmakers<\/a> wanted the audit to evaluate whether specific investments were making the retirement fund as productive as possible, and to discuss the types and amounts of investment manager fees and whether they were in line with best practices by other large state pension funds.<\/p>\n In particular, the legislators wanted the comprehensive audit to address fees for what are known as \u201czombie funds<\/a>,\u201d private equity funds older than 10 years that hold unsold or unsellable assets. OPERF has about $1.3 billion in unsold values for pre-2014 private equity funds, the lawmakers said, citing an investment council report. If all of the older funds were dormant, or zombie funds, they would still cost the retirement fund $26 million in annual fees, the lawmakers\u2019 letter noted.<\/p>\n OJP submitted questions about the possible zombie funds to a Treasury spokesperson Tuesday afternoon but didn\u2019t get a response by deadline.<\/p>\n More OJP stories about the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund:<\/p>\n Oregon\u2019s $100 billion pension fund ignored guidance and lost big,<\/a> Aug. 5, 2025<\/p>\n More Questions Arise About State Investments in Private Equity<\/a>, Sept. 2, 2025<\/p>\n