Editorial: Clerical error doesn’t mean PSERS has no responsibility
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There’s nothing like a good scapegoat. Who wouldn’t like to be able to just put all the blame for things that go wrong on someone else? It’s a good deal if you can find one.
Except that just because you blame the goat doesn’t mean you don’t have any responsibility.
Is there a scapegoat in the Public School Employees Retirement System’s accounting problem?
On Monday, PSERS released a report it commissioned on the incident in which a 2020 calculation error prompted increased contribution rates for the 94,000 teachers and other staff.
The report placed the blame on a consultant, which is consistent with the messaging that has come from PSERS since the problem was first brought to light.
The consultant in question is Aon. Two different 2021 memos about the incident — both attached to the report — noted that “Aon took responsibility.” That’s responsible of the global investment and business solutions company.
But a consultant’s error doesn’t absolve the company that hired it from its own oversight responsibility.
PSERS actually hired two consultants. The other was its actuarial consultant, Buck. The two companies came up with different figures because of Aon’s calculation error.
The problem is not an issue of PSERS letting the error go and not paying close enough attention. The report shows a great deal of back and forth about the discrepancy.
And that is why it is disappointing that the board overseeing a $72 billion retirement fund that represents people in every corner of Pennsylvania is content to put the blame entirely on the consultant.
Aon made a mistake, and it was the foundation the problem rested upon. But Aon did not make the decisions about setting the contribution rates. That rested on PSERS.
The internal report from Womble Bond Dickinson absolved the consultant of ill intent. No one stole anything or tried to make money off a tricky, unethical deal. It wasn’t shady. It was a mistake. Mistakes happen.
But the PSERS board needs to acknowledge its own responsibility.