Hackers Steal $4.2 Million from Oklahoma Police Pension

The Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System announced this week that it has suffered a cyberattack that saw hackers do away with $4.2 million from the pension’s $1 billion in holdings.

“OLERS was recently a victim of a cybercrime where $4.2 million was illegally stolen,” the fund wrote in a statement on its website. “We notified the FBI, who is conducting an active investigation of the crime.”

“However, we are certain the stolen funds will be recovered. Most importantly, no pension benefits to members or beneficiaries have been impacted or put at risk. All benefits will continue to be paid in a timely fashion as always.”

OLERS Executive Director Duane Michael told The Oklahoman that the pension had recovered $477,000 of the lost funds so far. He specified that the culprit(s) stole funds being managed by investment managers working on behalf of OLERS.

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OLERS provides pensions to approximately 1,500 retirees, including state highway troopers, state agents, park rangers, and other officers.

The hackers were able to access one of the retirement system’s employees’ email accounts, and as such, employees of the pension are due to receive training on cybercrime prevention initiatives.

Targeted cybercrime on US pension funds is nothing new; in 2017, hackers stole 103 retiree account containing sensitive information from the Iowa Public Employees’ Retirement System. In August 2019, the City of Austin Employees’ Retirement System suffered a hack where a member’s account was compromised, potentially exposing the personal information of other members.

Cybersecurity firm Recorded Future alleges that municipalities have reported 73 ransomware attacks in 2019, up from 54 in 2018. Such vulnerability to cyberattacks is making credit rating agencies wary and giving a negative impression to the pensions’ ratings. Moody’s rates Oklahoma Aa2, and S&P rates them AA—both equal ratings in measure.

All state agencies in Oklahoma are currently being transitioned into a unified cybersecurity program as part of Gov. Kevin Stitt’s agenda for his administration. Roy Rogers, the agency’s president, asserted that “if push comes to shove,” the fund will be able to recover its losses through its insurance coverage, in a statement to The Oklahoman.

Cyber Attacks Are Financial World’s Worst Threat, Says Jamie Dimon

Tags: Cyber Attack, Hackers, Oklahoma, Oklahoma Law Enforcement Retirement System, Pension

GoldenTree Expands into Japan Continuing Asia-Pacific Growth

GoldenTree Asset Management LP announced the opening of a branch in Tokyo, Japan. Taro Ueda will be joining GoldenTree as a managing director and will lead the new office.

Ueda joins GoldenTree from Wellington, where he was most recently managing director, relationship manager for Japanese institutional investors.

In September 2017, the firm opened an office in Sydney and a Singapore office was opened five years ago.

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Most recently, Ueda was a member of Wellington Management’s relationship management team responsible for providing solutions to financial institutions in Japan with strong focus on credit and alternative strategies.

Vantage Leadership Consulting Hires Former CHRO Of Whirlpool

Vantage Leadership Consulting, announced that David Binkley, the former chief human resources officer for Whirlpool Corp., has joined the firm as a senior advisor in strategic talent management. This position was created for Binkley, who started on Sept. 1.

“Vantage offers me a great platform to do the things I really enjoy, including working with boards, CEOs, and CHROs on executive succession; helping organizations fine-tune their people strategies; identifying and accelerating leadership talent; and coaching leaders to drive business results,” said Binkley.

At Vantage, Binkley leverages more than 30 years of experience within Fortune 150 companies, including the last 15 years as CHRO of Whirlpool.

Binkley will also launch Vantage’s HR strategy and advisory services in 2020.

During his time at Whirlpool, Binkley played a vital role in making the company a global leader in attracting and developing world-class executive talent. He also successfully steered the corporation through multiple CEO successions. Binkley recently retired from Whirlpool, leaving a leadership pipeline second-to-none.

Alan Jones appointed to build ICG’s private equity business in North America

Intermediate Capital Group (ICG) has appointed Alan Jones (A.J.) as a senior managing director with responsibility for building a private equity business in North America.

A.J. joins ICG after a 25-year career at Morgan Stanley where he served most recently as vice chairman of private credit and equity. In 2007, he rebuilt Morgan Stanley’s private equity investing business and from 2007 to 2018 was head of private equity and chair of the Group’s private equity investment committee. He also served as a member of several investment committees and of the firm’s Private Investment Risk Committee. A.J. has, in addition, significant experience on numerous corporate boards including HBF, CoAdvantage and Creative Circle.

In his new role, A.J. will combine his experience and track record in private equity with ICG’s expertise in complex structuring, hiring a new team of specialists to target private equity investments in North American mid-market companies. He will be based at ICG’s office in New York, from where a team of 57 people currently invest assets across its existing private debt, strategic equity, and credit fund strategies.

Tags: GoldenTree Asset Management, Intermediate Capital Group, People Moves, Vantage Leadership Consulting