Director steps down ?from Mass. pension trust

BOSTON – Michael Travaglini, executive director of the $44 billion Mass. Pension Reserves Investment Trust, is quitting after six years as state lawmakers consider capping compensation at the public fund, Bloomberg News reported last week.
Travaglini, 47, who is paid a base salary of $322,000, said last week in an interview that the pension fund for state employees and teachers, which is overseen by a board chaired by state Treasurer Timothy Cahill, doesn’t adequately compensate all its employees. The board three years ago approved paying bonuses of as much as 40 percent of salary after backing away from a plan to pay as much as 100 percent, he said.
“There are 24 people here remaining” after his departure, said Travaglini, who was a deputy state treasurer in Massachusetts from 1999 to 2003. “There are people here who are undervalued and underappreciated.”
Cahill said in a statement that Travaglini deserves credit for guiding the pension fund through the “historic Wall Street meltdown,” citing an 18 percent return on investments last year.
Travaglini will join Chicago-based Grosvenor Capital Management, which invests in hedge funds and has managed money for the state since 2006. He said he’s restricted from soliciting business from the Massachusetts pension fund for 12 months. &#8226