A state auditor's report of the Missouri Local Government Employees' Retirement System (LAGERS) had only one finding - that the board "has not established a system for reporting and monitoring gifts and paid travel expenses accepted by Board members and employees."
The eight-page report said the auditor's review of travel expenses confirmed "that employees periodically receive meals paid by investment managers while conducting visits to prospective investment managers or monitoring reviews of existing investment managers. Our review of some investment staff travel expenses found instances where certain meals were not claimed for overnight trips taken, and there was no documentation indicating how the meals were paid."
The auditor recommended LAGERS Board of Trustees "establish a system for reporting and monitoring gifts or other items of value accepted from third parties by Board members and employees," because "without documentation, the acceptance of gifts and paid travel expenses is not transparent and cannot be monitored for compliance with the Board's ethics policy."
In its response, LAGERS said the trustees will take the auditor's recommendation "into consideration during the normal policy review process."
State Auditor Nicole Galloway's staff rated LAGERS' overall performance as "good."
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