FREDERICTON (GNB) – Auditor General Kim Adair-MacPherson today released a report citing a lack of access to necessary Vestcor information constrained her ability to do her job. Vestcor is the organization responsible for investment management of over $18 billion in New Brunswick public sector funds, including $14 billion of which is the New Brunswick Public Service Pension Plan (NBPSPP) and Teachers Pension Plan (NBTPP).

The Auditor General Act requires the auditor general to inform the legislative assembly if she encounters difficulty receiving information required for audit work. Prior to 2016, the auditor general had unrestricted access to audit the New Brunswick Investment Management Corporation (NBIMC), Vestcor’s predecessor company. Vestcor and its two owners, the NBPSPP and NBTPP, disagree with the auditor general given their new private legislation.

“In my view, the Auditor General Act currently grants me the authority to conduct performance audits of Vestcor, as well as unrestricted access to perform financial audit procedures,” Adair-MacPherson said.

Adair-MacPherson recommended a regulation be added to the Auditor General Act to explicitly list Vestcor (and its related entities) as auditable entities, to ensure her office’s future access.

Adair-MacPherson also recommended a performance audit of Vestcor be requested by the Minister of Finance and Treasury Board and that Vestcor appear regularly before the Public Accounts Committee. If access was obtained, the auditor general could examine Vestcor’s investment management performance and the reasonableness of its employee incentive program.

The chapter Auditor General Access to Vestcor was Significantly Limited can be found in Volume II of the 2020 Auditor General Report. This volume and the one-page summary for this chapter are available online.