Possumblog

Not in the clamor of the crowded street, not in the shouts and plaudits of the throng, but in ourselves, are triumph and defeat.--Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

REDIRECT ALERT! (Scroll down past this mess if you're trying to read an archived post. Thanks. No, really, thanks.)

Due to my inability to control my temper and complacently accept continued silliness with not-quite-as-reliable-as-it-ought-to-be Blogger/Blogspot, your beloved Possumblog will now waddle across the Information Dirt Road and park its prehensile tail at http://possumblog.mu.nu.

This site will remain in place as a backup in case Munuvia gets hit by a bus or something, but I don't think they have as much trouble with this as some places do. ::cough::blogspot::cough:: So click here and adjust your links. I apologize for the inconvenience, but it's one of those things.

Friday, March 15, 2002

Governor's stockbroker gets profits from state contracts

From Eddie Curran of the Mobile Register:

Birmingham-based Sterne Agee Asset Management pays Gov. Don Siegelman's personal stockbroker a third of its fees for managing a state insurance fund's investments, and 40 percent of what it earns by overseeing investments of a small sub-agency called the Alabama Research Institute, state records show. Contracts and state documents that include required disclosures by Sterne Agee describe the 34-year-old Trava Williams variously as a solicitor of business, a consultan[t/]lobbyist and a relationships manager hired by the firm. None of the records show that Williams was to participate in investment decisions, or be involved in managing state funds. Although retained by the firm, he was not, and is not, an employee of the firm.

[...]

Sterne Agee has been in the news since recent reports that it hired Williams to help it win a contract to manage a portion of the $1 billion Alabama Trust Fund, and to help it capture a similar contract for a far smaller fund held by the Alabama Crime Victims Compensation Commission. The Trust Fund is a repository for state natural gas royalties.

Members of the Police Officers Annuity Fund have also said they felt pressured by the administration to use Williams and Sterne Agee. Records show that, despite repeated requests, Siegelman did not sign contracts with the fund's longtime managers. But members of the fund refused to change their contracts.

The Birmingham News has reported that a firm Williams co-owns, AFS Equities Inc., handles the personal investments of Siegelman and former Siegelman chief-of-staff Paul Hamrick. The firm has for years invested Siegelman's multimillion-dollar campaign funds, state elections records show. AFS has made money for the governor's campaign -- including $261,138 in 1999 and $217,252 in 2000, election records show.

I'm certain it's all very innocent. Ignore the smell.

posted by Terry at 11:08:00 AM

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