Knupp Values Ohio BWC’s Marketable Securities at $14B

Proclaiming the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation’s (BWC’s) financial reporting process “robust,” Ennis Knupp recently confirmed the value of Ohio’s State Insurance Fund’s marketable securities is approximately $14 billion as of May 31, 2005.

Ennis Knupp’s findings were within 0.01 percent of the bureau’s internal valuation of its publicly traded stocks and bonds. Ennis Knupp’s valuation of the private equity investments is ongoing, and it will deliver a final report once it completes due diligence on each investment.

“I am pleased to confirm the State Insurance Fund is whole,” BWC’s interim Administrator/CEO Tina Kielmeyer said. “But more importantly, Ennis Knupp’s valuation clearly demonstrates that injured workers will continue to receive their benefits and can focus on a more important task, which is a safe and successful return to work.”

For all fixed income and equity investments, except private equity, there was a variance of approximately $700,000, which is primarily the result of J.P. Morgan Chase and BWC utilizing different pricing services to price securities. According to Ennis Knupp, this difference is minor and to be expected given the size of the portfolio and the number of investments.

Including the valuation of the private equity investments as reported by J.P. Morgan Chase, the total assets of the State Insurance Fund add up to approximately $14.4 billion. Marketable securities account for 97.2 percent of the State Insurance Fund’s total assets.

Ennis Knupp valued the bureau’s domestic equities to be approximately $4.37 billion. Its non-domestic equities were valued at $1.97 billion, and fixed-income securities were valued at approximately $6.98 billion. The remaining $675 million includes the bureau’s internally managed securities, cash on hand, and hedge fund accounts that are currently being liquidated.

In conducting the valuation, Ennis Knupp obtained market value information on all investment accounts from J.P. Morgan Chase and crosschecked the list of managers with the one maintained by the bureau’s finance department. It then requested market value information from each investment manager and asked each manager to reconcile the balances it reports with what was being reported by J.P Morgan Chase.