I bring 25 years of experience in finance and intend to leverage that expertise to produce higher returns for our state's portfolio using the following key ideas:

Keep a long-term investment horizon:
Investing in a pension fund (or, more broadly, one's retirement) requires that one take a long-term horizon. Financial markets can be volatile and irrational - hopelessly pessimistic at times and exuberant in other periods. Successful investing requires looking beyond the extremes in sentiment and thinking about how markets and investments will be in two or ten years. 

Build a diversified portfolio with appropriate and prudent risk:
A  robust asset allocation process forms the basis for superior returns. Asset allocation is how the portfolio is divided between stocks, bonds, real estate, and other asset classes. It is important to stay diversified in many investments within an asset category. The asset allocation for the CT pension portfolio needs improvement with more exposure to US assets.

Pursue opportunity in down markets:

Quoting legendary investor Warren Buffett:  "Be fearful when others are greedy, and greedy when others are fearful." Bear markets offer the opportunity to rebalance and high-grade an investment portfolio. We should plan to take advantage of current markets to rebuild our portfolio.

Lower fees and pay only for outperformance:

The mantra for successful investing is to pay lower fees. Money saved is money earned. CT pension funds pay hundreds of millions in investment fees. We pay a double layer of fees in many instances. Despite high fees, our portfolio has lagged an 80/20 indexed portfolio by billions of dollars. 

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After years of underperformance, let us build a portfolio for outperformance. I ask for your vote on November 8th.


Sincerely, 


Harry Arora
Republican Candidate for State Treasurer