Vermont’s pension fund safe

Vermont State Treasurer Jeb Spaulding emphasized, that roughly 40,000 members and beneficiaries are in “no danger” of losing their pension because of the liquidation of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and the $50 billion sale of Merrill Lynch & Co. to Bank of America.

“These are defined benefit plans, and the turmoil on the markets will have no impact on the security of their benefits,” Spaulding said.

Wall Street jitters will not cause Vermont’s pension fund managers to shift large sums of money. “We try not to sell low and buy high ... the one thing we don’t do is panic,” Spaulding said.

Vermont manages more than $3 billion, in three different pension funds, for public school teachers, state and municipal employees, Deputy Banking Commissioner Tom Candon said. The fund is managed by a six-member committee with the assistance of New England Pension Consultants of Cambridge, Mass.