South Dakota’s longtime investment chief Matt Clark has shown sensible caution in keeping South Dakota’s pension funds out of artificial intelligence and inherently shady cryptocurrency. But supposedly conservative right-wing legislators apparently want Clark to invest less conservatively:
Three of the 15 members of the Legislature’s Executive Board on Tuesday voted against approving the salary package for South Dakota investment officer Matt Clark.
It was the first time in recent history that a board member voted against the package.
…Republican Rep. Scott Odenbach of Spearfish questioned the investment office’s long-standing conservative position.
Odenbach, the House majority leader, compared the S&P 500’s gain of 17.3% during the past 12 months with the SDRS gain of 6.3% during the past nine months.
…Joining Odenbach in voting against Clark’s salary package were Republican Rep. Aaron Aylward of Harrisburg and Republican Rep. Jon Hansen of Dell Rapids. Hansen is House speaker and is a candidate for governor [Bob Mercer, “A Shift Takes Shape Against State Investment Officer,” KELO-TV, 2026.04.14].
Clark, now in his 32nd year in his position, is making pretty good money for his seasoned decisions:
Clark currently makes a salary of $647,723. His new salary will begin July 1, the start of the 2027 fiscal year. He will receive an increase of 1.4% with all other state employees as budgeted by the Legislature, which will bring his salary to $656,791.
The investment performance incentive plan approved by the Executive Board could provide Clark up to 200% of his salary as a bonus, after the performance of the State Retirement System fund is audited and other performance indicators are taken into account. The council weighs its performance against a Capital Markets Benchmark, which is an index that can be used as a comparison to measure an investment portfolio’s results.
The average bonus for Clark is about 80%, he said. That would be a little more than $525,000 on top of his new salary. At 200%, the maximum allowed bonus, Clark could see an additional $1.3 million, “which is almost impossible to achieve,” he said.
Last fall, Clark received a little more than $125,000 as a bonus for performance during the 2025 fiscal year, on top of a salary from the same fiscal year of about $640,000, resulting in total compensation of more than $765,000 [Meghan O’Brien, “Lawmakers Approve Pay and Bonus Package for Investment Manager, Despite Concerns About Returns,” South Dakota Searchlight, 2026.04.14].
$765,000 for Fiscal Year 2025—Clark’s compensation was 0.39% of the $196 million his decisions added to the state’s portfolio in FY 2025.
You know their fearless leader has declared his business bankrupt six times, their just playing catch up. Its a game to them. Their stupidity could be catching, so watch out.
Their belief is It is better to be sorry than to never have acted at all. It isn’t their money anyways. Gambling is easier with other peoples money. Their next meeting should be at Cadillac Jacks.