The Texas Permanent School Fund (PSF) Corporation’s board of directors convened last Tuesday to begin the process of searching for a new full-time CEO and appointing a temporary replacement for the interim.
The PSF Corporation manages the $56 billion public endowment used to fund Texas public schools.
B. Holland Timmins III informed Chairman Tom Maynard of his intention to step down from the position of CEO in April following a series of controversies regarding the organization’s seeming resistance to fully disengaging from companies involved in environmental, social, and governance (ESG) practices, as previously reported by The Dallas Express.
Additionally, PSF Corporation drew scrutiny for entering into a contract for office space at taxpayers’ expense even though the organization had been offered workspace in state-owned offices.
Timmins served his last day as CEO on May 31.
Last week’s meeting started with a discussion over the job description for the post. Aaron Kinsey, a member of the Texas State Board of Education, raised the issue of the description making no mention of liaising with the Texas Legislature or the office lease debacle.
Kinsey put forth a number of amendments. One added language to the candidate qualifications on the job posting that calls for “familiarity with Texas state laws regarding investments and investment decisions,” a likely reference to the criticism Timmins and his staff garnered from board member and Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham back in April.
Buckingham had grilled them at a meeting over their seeming reluctance to follow state guidance to divest and cut ties with BlackRock and other entities over their ESG policies targeting the fossil fuels sector.
“[I] lose faith even more in staff’s ability and your leadership to execute on this board. … Oil and gas revenue is the majority of this fund, and voting against oil and gas will hurt the majority of this fund,” Buckingham said to Timmins during the meeting.
In a subsequent interview, Buckingham told The Dallas Express:
“I feel like the board needs additional expertise in financial matters. When I look at the backgrounds of the members on the board, well, I think everyone does bring something of significance to the board. I just wonder if it has the right expertise to truly be a good tool for oversight of this $55 billion fund.”
During last week’s meeting, Buckingham said that she and some other board members were in talks with a possible CEO pick. She said the person is interested in the position and would bring “a wealth of experience in exactly this.”
Following some discussion, the board of directors moved to appoint John Wright, general counsel for the PSF Corporation, to the position of acting CEO. Kinsey objected, though, arguing that board members had not had enough time to discuss the duties of the post.
Kinsey’s objection prevailed, and the appointment motion was tabled.
The issue of the office lease also came up again, particularly how the legislature cut the PSF Corporation’s budgetary request for a lease.
John McGeady, director of governmental relations for the PSF Corporation, briefed board members on the situation, stating that lawmakers trimmed the allocation request by roughly two-thirds. He noted that the legislature empowered board members to make a fiduciary finding to access appropriations as needed, but they would need to subsequently justify the spending of taxpayer money.
In discussing the acting CEO’s duties, Kinsey motioned to add language requiring the interim executive to “ensure compliance with all state laws” and to “proactively communicate to the Board any issues that would materially affect the corporation.” The motion carried without objection.
Board members then moved to appoint Wright as acting CEO. The motion was carried.
Chairman Maynard then discussed the work board members will be engaged with in June, which includes interviewing executive search companies and discussing asset allocation.
