Metro's Employee Benefits Trust Fund has been posting some solid returns of late thanks in part to diversifying some of its assets into private equity and other alternative asset classes. But Ted Siedle writes on Forbes.com that he's not impressed with the risk being taken on by Metro Chief Investment Officer Fadi BouSamra.

Did the CIO really say investments that are so lacking in liquidity and credit quality that other institutional investors won’t touch them are nevertheless perfectly appropriate for a public pension fund?

I’m not nearly as sure as the Nashville CIO that traditional fixed income investing no longer works for pensions.  I am certain (and it has become abundantly clear to most experts- especially since 2008) that Wall Street innovations designed to replace traditional fixed income products (and supposedly outperform) are far more dangerous and involve myriad poorly-understood risks.