MassPRIM Appoints Michael Trotsky As New Executive Director

(August 3, 2010) — The $41.3 billion Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board (MassPRIM) has selected Michael Trotsky as its executive director, effective August 18.

Trotsky replaces Michael Travaglini, who was among the highest paid government employees in the state while at MassPRIM and resigned June 11 amid concerns that the Legislature might limit future compensation. He become managing director of a Chicago investment firm, Grosvenor Capital Management.

“The issue of incentive compensation here is back on the front burner,” Travaglini, who started at the fund in February 2004, said to The Boston Globe after announcing his resignation. “If you need the context for my decision, it’s an entirely personal one. I have a wife and three children and I’m going to provide for them,” said Travaglini, who earned up to $322,000 with bonuses while at the pension.

Travaglini’s successor is currently executive director of the Massachusetts Health Care Security Trust Fund. For Trotsky’s new executive director position, the board approved an annual salary of $245,000.

In recent news, the fund announced returns of 12.82% for the fiscal year ended June 30. This is in sharp contrast with results from the previous year, when the fund plunged 23.6%, or nearly $13 billion – its biggest loss in history. Overall, the pension gained $3.6 billion for the 2010 fiscal year.