Chapter 2: Cover Up of Whistleblower
IN THIS LESSON
South Dakota Investment Council (SDIC) Board.
Virtually all of South Dakota’s financial assets are held at the SDIC, 75% of the $20 billion total are South Dakota Retirement System (SDRS) funds. These funds are the asset side of the SDRS. The SDIC invests the SDRS funds to generate income/gains to pay SDRS for pension benefits. The rest of the assets are several state trust funds and the cash flow fund which is the State of South Dakota checking account.
The Board’s job is to oversee the CIO and make sure the funds are “prudently” invested.
Renae forwards to the Board the last email to Matt with the Whistleblower laws in it with a quick explanation of what happened the day after Matt fires Renae.
Renae then forwards the 50 page document to the board the next day on Sunday.
Monday, Renae receives no replies. She calls Chairman of the Board, Loren Koepsell, and leaves a message, but there would never be a call back.
Tuesday, Renae sends the All-staff email (in Renae’s employment file) to explain to staff what happened. Renae continues to wait for a response from the Board, but it never happens. Renae waits for communications with several staff that are close friends, but that never really happens either.
On June 5th Board meeting “Personnel Matters”, they unanimously agree to send Renae an NDA which she receives on June 26 through Melanie Carpenter at Woods Fuller Law firm. Renae would only communicate with the SDIC through Melanie after.
The August Board meeting “Personnel Matters Legal Update” was to reject her “reinstatement after an investigation” settlement offer which is the recovery for a Whistleblower termination grievance claim.
Several interesting things happen on the Nov. 13 meeting.
John Richter, in-house lawyer, provided “Fiduciary Education” to the Board shortly before his “Personnel Matters Legal Update” executive session meeting to intimidate Renae to sign an NDA/settlement through the massive cyberattack they were actively orchestrating at the time against Renae.
The FY25 Audit had no findings other than the SDIC not having a plan for some bond maturities in the month of June. The month of June may have been chaotic for the SDIC, so it’s interesting the audit doesn’t mention why.
Succession Planning as they need a new Senior Investment Manager after firing Renae for Whistleblowing about a collapse of Internal Controls. Jarrod Edelen looks to be the replacement. At least Jarrod knows what he’s getting into in a way Renae did not.
Two different investment performance meetings as performance has been suffering for the last decade because of an error in the Asset Allocation model in calculating stock-buybacks that Renae found a few months before Matt/Jan demanded Renae approve of an illegal raise for a part-time employee.
A change in Whistleblower reporting procedures under the guise of “Code of Ethics” of a SDIC Specific Reporting Process where the staff can only report to the people involved in intimidating Renae to sign an NDA. No whistleblower laws were changed after the reforms earlier in 2025. The SDIC didn’t think this was material enough to mention in the minutes, only the meeting materials.
Dec 8, Whistleblower billboards go up in Ft. Pierre.
Feb 5, 2026 Board Meeting: The Board decides Matt Clark definitely deserves the 1.50% more than other state employees salary increase this year. Another Performance Evaluation Update since performance has been so poor for a decade. This time the entire full-time management team is in the “Personnel Matters Legal Update” after Renae fired her GPNA Law firm lawyer on Jan 8. And John Richter discusses some IRS code legislative updates. He would very unexpectedly have to deal with Renae at the “Retirement Laws Hearing” in Pierre a few hours after this about that very same law.
Check back for more updates in the future!
