MOSERS approves investment screening

The multilevel screening process is intended to keep the state’s public pension funds from being invested in companies tied to terrorists.

A Missouri policy prohibits investments into companies on a list provided by the Office of Foreign Assets Control, but the list does not include publicly traded companies in which states invest, according to State Treasurer Sarah Steelman in a news release. The screening process will close that loophole.

Also at the meeting, the board decided on two private vendors that will analyze international companies that are screened for terrorist links.

The Conflict Security Advisory Group received a $15,000 contract, while Regulatory Data Corp. International received a $10,000 contract.

The screenings require immediate divestment of any investments that the process determines are linked to terrorists.

The Missouri State Employee Retirement System invests more than $6 billion in funds belonging to current and retired state workers.

In other Treasurer’s Office news, about $46 million in unclaimed assets are now up for grabs in Missouri’s general revenue fund and will be used for state programs until its owners are found.

While ownership of unclaimed property is never reverted to the state, law does allow the assets of properties to benefit citizens while the owners are sought.

Steelman Nov. 8 used the law to divert a portion of unclaimed assets from the unclaimed property abandoned fund account into the general revenue fund.

“All unclaimed property can be immediately returned to the original owner, whether the claim in made one day or 100 years after the property is turned over to the state,” Steelman said in a news release.

Last year, the Division of Unclaimed Property returned more than $20 million to about 60,000 account owners. The division is responsible for managing all abandoned funds in bank accounts, safe deposit boxes and stock holdings.

Citizens can check to see if the state is holding unclaimed property that belongs to them at www.showmemoney.com.