Press Kit — Media Resources for Arkansas Pension Investigation

Media resources for journalists covering Arkansas pension investments in non-tradable foreign sovereign debt.

Campaign summary

Arkansans for Pension Integrity (API) is a grassroots Arkansas campaign investigating investments in non-tradable foreign sovereign debt by state pension funds. Through FOIA requests to Arkansas state agencies, the campaign has obtained and analyzed more than 1,200 public records revealing up to $100 million in authorized pension fund exposure to these bonds — without independent credit analysis, and through a process that bypassed normal investment channels. The State Treasury, a separately governed state office, holds an additional $55 million in the same instruments under different statutory authority; the campaign’s legislative ask is scoped to pension boards.

The campaign’s ask is legislative: passage of the Pension Investment Transparency Act in the 2027 Arkansas legislative session, requiring independent credit analysis, consultant independence, liquidity risk disclosure, and documented financial rationale before pension boards commit members’ retirement funds to non-tradable sovereign debt. The campaign does not ask pension boards to buy or sell any specific investment.

Key statistics

Figure Detail
$50M ATRS (teacher retirement) authorization for these bonds (June 2, 2025; Board Chair cast lone “no” vote); full $50M deployed December 2025
$25–50M APERS (public employee retirement) authorization for non-tradable sovereign bonds (May 15, 2025)
$55M Arkansas State Treasury holdings in the same instruments — separately governed under Treasury investment authority, not Act 498; including $20M purchased since May 2025
1,227 Public records obtained and analyzed across three FOIA rounds to Arkansas state agencies
3 Major credit agencies (S&P, Moody’s, Fitch) that have downgraded the issuing country’s credit rating since 2024
0 Independent credit analyses of these non-tradable sovereign bonds found in the entire document record
5 Arkansas state agencies that produced documents — three pension systems (ATRS, APERS, ASHERS) and two non-pension state offices (the State Treasury and the Auditor of State). Two additional pension systems (ASPRS, LOPFI) confirmed null results; one (AJRS) response pending. Six pension systems total are covered by Act 498.
1 Dissenting vote on the ATRS Board — Chair Danny Knight, who warned the process departed from standard practice
4 Rounds of FOIA requests filed (August 2025, February 2026, March 2026, May 2026)
265 New documents received in FOIA Round 2 (118 Treasury, 16 APERS, 7 ATRS, 124 Auditor)
8,648 Pages in APERS’s Round 2 FOIA production — the single largest response received

Timeline of key events

2017

  • Arkansas first purchases non-tradable sovereign bonds

    State Treasury purchases through outreach from the bond issuer's sales representatives to then-Treasurer Dennis Milligan.

2023

  • $10M purchase after October 7

    State Board of Finance approves purchase. Treasurer Walther: “Those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed.”

2024

  • Moody’s downgrade: A1 → A2

    First major credit downgrade, with negative outlook.

  • S&P downgrade: AA- → A+

    S&P downgrades the issuing country’s sovereign credit rating, with negative outlook.

  • Fitch downgrade: A+ → A

    Third major agency downgrades the issuing country, with negative outlook.

  • Moody’s second downgrade: A2 → Baa1

    Moody’s further downgrades the issuing country, with negative outlook.

  • S&P second downgrade: A+ → A

    S&P further downgrades the issuing country, with negative outlook.

  • Internal memo recommends against new purchases

    Senior Investment Officer Steve Pulley cites credit downgrades, recommends holding positions and letting $17M roll off.

  • Auditor arranges bond issuer meetings

    State Auditor Milligan arranges for the bond issuer's representatives to meet with state officials.

2025

  • Auditor schedules two-day pitch tour in 18 minutes

    Auditor Milligan and executive assistant Wendy Spadoni send four meeting arrangement emails within 18 minutes, scheduling the bond issuer's sales executives with the heads of APERS, ATRS, and the Treasury — all in Room 230 of the Auditor’s Capitol office, all CC’d to deputy Jason Brady.

  • Bond issuer's representatives meet state officials

    Sales representatives meet with directors of ATRS, APERS, the State Treasurer, and the State Auditor in back-to-back meetings at Room 230.

  • $20M Treasury purchase; APERS authorizes $25–50M

    Treasury purchases two new $10M sovereign bonds, bringing holdings to $55M. APERS Investment Subcommittee unanimously authorizes $25–50M.

  • ATRS Board authorizes up to $50M

    Board adopts Resolution 2025-22. Board Chair Danny Knight casts lone “no” vote, warning the process departs from standard practice.

  • APERS full board approves $25–50M

    Jason Brady introduces the investment citing Treasury’s $55 million in these bonds. Board approves without independent financial analysis.

  • Arkansas Times investigation published

    “Arkansas taxpayers are loaning Israel millions of dollars as its war in Gaza grinds on.”

  • Governor celebrates bond purchases

    Governor Sanders: “Arkansas puts its money where its mouth is and is investing millions in Israeli bonds!”

  • ATRS formalizes investment guidelines

    Establishes written guidelines for “Israeli Jubilee bond account” managed by Reams Asset Management — four months after board authorization.

  • APERS confirms purchase

    APERS receives first bond statement, confirming a purchase eventually occurred.

  • ATRS deploys full $50M

    ATRS Deputy Director Rod Graves confirms in a board liquidity update that the full $50 million sovereign bond mandate was funded through the Scout (Reams) account — without independent credit analysis at any stage.

2026

  • FOIA Round 2 submitted

    Second round of FOIA requests submitted to all four agencies.

  • Treasury delivers Round 2 response

    118 documents, 2,526 pages.

  • APERS delivers Round 2 response

    16 documents including 8,648-page production.

  • ATRS delivers partial Round 2 response; Auditor delivers via flash drive

    ATRS: 7 documents. Auditor of State: 124 documents from three custodians (Milligan, Brady, Spadoni) via General Counsel TJ Fowler. Round 2 corpus: 1,222 documents.

Key quotes from the public record

From the public record:

“Both S&P Global Ratings and Moody’s downgraded Israel’s credit ratings due to heightened security risks and weakened economic prospects. The outlook remains negative… It is crucial for Israel to manage these risks effectively.”

— Steve Pulley, Senior Investment Officer, Arkansas State Treasurer’s Office (internal memo, October 8, 2024; identified by the Arkansas Times)

From the public record:

“[The Board is] going outside of the scope of the way we usually do things.”

— Danny Knight, ATRS Board Chair and sole dissenting vote (June 2025)

From the public record:

“Arkansas puts its money where its mouth is and is investing millions in Israeli bonds!”

— Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders (public statement, August 2025)

From the public record:

“Those who bless Israel will be blessed, and those who curse Israel will be cursed. Arkansas unequivocally stands with Israel, as demonstrated by the recent actions of Governor Sarah Sanders and the Arkansas Legislature.”

— State Treasurer Larry Walther, press release (Oct. 2023) (source document)

From the public record:

“This is a wonderful message, Stacy. I will reach out to the Auditor directly, but please let him know how deeply we appreciate his support… you are truly one of a kind; forever grateful.”

— Lawrence Berman, the bond issuer’s national managing director, replying to the Auditor’s office on the October 7 anniversary (source document)

From the public record:

“It had come to his attention” that Israel Bonds were available, and the State Treasury “currently holds approximately $55 million in Israel Bonds as part of its $11 billion portfolio.”

— Jason Brady, Auditor of State’s appointee to APERS board, introducing the investment to the board (June 11, 2025)

From the public record:

“Still zero for APERS.”

— Amy Fecher, APERS Executive Director, confirming no purchases two months after board authorization (July 30, 2025)

From the public record:

“APERS intent is to purchase the bonds directly. Staff opinion is that there is not a need to incur management fees.”

— Carlos Borromeo, APERS Chief Investment Officer (2025)

The fiduciary question

Arkansas law requires pension investments to be based solely on “pecuniary factors” — financial merit (State Government Employee Retirement Protection Act, Act 498 of 2023, Ark. Code §§ 24-2-802(4)(A), 24-2-804(a); Ark. Code § 24-2-614). The central question for journalists: Were these investment decisions made through the standard process of independent financial analysis, or were they driven by political relationships and external pressure?

Key evidence points:

An internal Treasury memo recommended against new purchases. Senior Investment Officer Steve Pulley wrote that the state should hold existing positions and let maturing bonds roll off.

No independent credit analysis has been produced. A review of more than 1,200 public records from Arkansas state agencies found zero independent credit analyses.

The ATRS Board Chair warned the process was irregular and voted against it. Danny Knight’s dissent noted the request departed from the normal manager-driven process.

The Auditor arranged a two-day pitch tour from his own office. On April 11, 2025, State Auditor Dennis Milligan, through his office, scheduled four meetings in 18 minutes — arranging the bond issuer’s sales executives to meet with the heads of APERS, ATRS, and the Treasury in Room 230 of his Capitol office. The Auditor has no investment authority over any of these funds.

The Auditor’s office played at least five documented operational roles. Deputy Auditor Jason Brady served as meeting broker, information relay (forwarding board communications to Milligan’s personal AOL email), media response coordinator (receiving APERS’s forwarded press inquiries), State Financial Officers Foundation (SFOF) speechwriter, and physical designee at the ATRS board vote. A handwritten note from Brady’s files tracked allocations across all three investing entities on a single page.

Public statements by the Governor, Treasurer, and other officials framed the purchases in political — not financial — terms. The Governor celebrated them as proof Arkansas “puts its money where its mouth is.”

The bond market offers many alternatives with higher credit ratings and greater liquidity. These bonds cannot be traded before maturity and carry declining credit ratings.

The Auditor’s appointee served as conduit. Jason Brady introduced the investment to the APERS board citing Treasury holdings, not independent analysis. The board approved $25–50 million.

The board voted before staff were ready. APERS authorized $25–50 million but purchased nothing for two months. The CIO was still establishing contact with the bond issuer in late July 2025.

Two pension funds, zero independent credit analyses. APERS chose direct purchase with no manager; ATRS hired a manager but created investment guidelines four months after authorization. Neither produced independent analysis before the board vote.

The full $50 million ATRS authorization was deployed by December 2025. A routine board liquidity update confirmed the entire mandate was funded through Reams Asset Management — without independent credit analysis at any stage of the six-month process from vote to deployment.

Background resources

  • Arkansas law: Ark. Code § 24-2-614 (sole interest rule); Act 498 of 2023, §§ 24-2-802(4)(A), 24-2-804(a) (pecuniary factors only); Ark. Code §§ 24-2-610–619 (prudent investor standard)
  • Credit ratings: Moody’s downgraded the issuing country from A1 to Baa1 (via A2); S&P downgraded from AA- to A (via A+); Fitch downgraded from A+ to A (August 2024); all three maintained negative outlook
  • Prior press coverage: Jennifer Lenow, “Arkansas taxpayers are loaning Israel millions of dollars as its war in Gaza grinds on,” Arkansas Times, July 11, 2025
  • Parallel investigation: Stephen Caruso, “Treasurer Garrity bought Israel Bonds. Candidate Garrity then campaigned at the firm’s gala,” Spotlight PA, March 17, 2026 — independent journalists in Pennsylvania raising similar fiduciary and ethics questions about state sovereign bond purchases
  • Source documents: Browse the full FOIA document archive — key evidence documents published for public review

National context

Arkansas is part of a broader national pattern. As of early 2026, at least nine state- and local-level campaigns — including Arkansas — scrutinize sovereign bond investments by public entities:

  • Minnesota — State Board of Investment sold over $13 million in these bonds; holdings dropped from $11.8M to $470K by October 2025.
  • Michigan — State treasury declined to reinvest a $10 million bond that matured in November 2025. FOIA requests revealed that the bond issuer’s national managing director repeatedly emailed the Michigan treasury pleading for reinvestment and offering rates higher than publicly available.
  • Pennsylvania — Spotlight PA investigation documented Treasurer Stacy Garrity’s $45 million in purchases since October 7 and her attendance at an industry gala — paralleling the political-financial blurring documented in Arkansas.
  • Palm Beach County, FL — Holds approximately $1 billion in these bonds (15–18% of portfolio). Two lawsuits filed over concentration risk; Florida passed a law exempting these bonds from minimum bond rating requirements.
  • New York — Former NYC Comptroller let ~$39M in sovereign bonds lapse. New York State’s Common Retirement Fund held $352 million as of March 2024.
  • Texas — Acting Comptroller doubled Texas’s investment from ~$140M to $280M in February 2026.
  • Illinois — SB2449 would remove the State Treasurer’s authority to invest in foreign government bonds. Ethics complaint filed by SEIU Local 73 members over $100M in purchases.
  • North Carolina — State pension fund sold $6.7 million in foreign government bonds in October 2025.

The successful campaigns share three characteristics: FOIA-driven transparency, fiduciary-first framing focused on credit downgrades and illiquidity, and refusal to be characterized as boycott-motivated.

Background: The specific instrument

This investigation centers on a class of non-marketable foreign sovereign debt — direct loans to a foreign government, sold exclusively through a for-profit broker-dealer registered with FINRA (CRD# 11148). The bonds cannot be sold or traded before maturity, and all three major rating agencies have downgraded the issuing country’s sovereign credit rating since 2024. For the full financial profile — credit ratings, liquidity characteristics, regulatory history — see our glossary.

Throughout this site we describe the investment by its financial characteristics rather than its issuer name. The document archive names the specific instrument and issuer in the agencies’ own words. The evidence page presents what those records show. The officials’ own statements — quoted verbatim above — identify the issuer in political terms. The contrast between the campaign’s financial language and the officials’ political language is the point.

Resources for download

Media contact

Email: info@arpensions.org

For source documents and detailed research findings, contact us directly. All claims are backed by public records obtained through lawful FOIA requests.

Arkansans for Pension Integrity (API) is a grassroots Arkansas campaign for pension transparency and fiduciary accountability.