1. Jeremy, can you give us a breakdown of the salaries at the Maine Public Employees Retirement System?
Maine state and local workers rely on these officials to invest their pension savings, but a good amount of state money is going into their own pockets.
Chief Investment Officer James Bennett: $330,000
His salary steadily increased from $186,000 to almost double between 2017 and 2023.
CEO Rebecca Wyke: $293,000.
Dr. Wyke was president of the University of Maine at Augusta before accepting her current job in 2021. She’s earned roughly $1.7 million from the state in the last seven years.
COO Michael Colleran: $250,000
Chief Services Officer Gavin Chip: $240,000.
Deputy Manager William Proom: $207,000.
2. How do those salaries compare to others from around the state?
Aside from doctors and other healthcare officials, no other state employees are making as much as the top officials at the Maine state retirement system.
Our database at OpenTheBooks has salary info for 74 different Maine state agencies and departments. The top four employees at the retirement system are making a higher salary than anyone else outside of healthcare: more than any state police officer, lawmaker, and more than Gov. Mills and any of her staff.
The next highest paid employees are a police sergeant making $218,000 and Suzanne Gresser, who makes $185,000 as executive director of the state legislature. That’s almost $150,000 less than the chief investment officer of the retirement system is making.
3. Are salaries of over $300,000 typical for a state retirement system?
Most states in the Northeast are not paying their retirement system officials as much as Maine, including states with higher cost of living and higher average salaries.
Melanie Whinnery executive director of New York retirement system makes $240,000.
Jan Goodwin exec director in New Hampshire makes $250,000.
Massachusetts Kathryn Kougias makes only $112,000.
Rhode Island Frank Karpinski makes $188,000.
Still not as much as the west coast; California pays over $500,000.
4. What exactly does it mean to “run a retirement system?” What are the day to day duties of these officials?
The Maine PERS officials help decide how to invest pension savings and are responsible for data security for employee info from around the state.
They also offer disability services and life insurance. Their
website lists 10 "senior administrative" staff members.
There’s been some controversy lately over a state law that directs the retirement system to stop investments in fossil fuels. The retirement system plans to reduce fossil fuel investments by
one third by 2026, but some activists are saying that’s not enough and held a protest outside a board meeting in Augusta this July. Dr. Wyke has said in multiple statements that divesting faster than that could place pension savings at risk.