Ashland Partners with Treasurer Ted Wheeler (3rd from left)

Ashland Partners, located at Bigham Knoll, held a Client Conference today, July 15 on-site. Fifty clients from all over the world, plus staff from the nation and worldwide attended.

State Treasurer, Ted Wheeler kicked-off the conference, speaking about Oregon’s economy, goals and issues. Wheeler is the 28th State Treasurer of Oregon. A former manager at an investment firm and then the elected chief executive of Multnomah County, Wheeler was appointed in March 2010 to complete the term of former Treasurer Ben Westlund.  Wheeler was sworn into office on March 11, 2010. He was then elected in the November 2010 general election.

Wheeler first congratulated Mel & Brooke Ashland, owners of Bigham Knoll, on their wonderful venue. He also said how much he respected the financial services industry for the transparency shown in recent years, and the effective use of technology.

Mel and Brooke Ashland, Owners of Bigham Knoll

He said that his role as State Treasurer was basically that of CFO for the state of Oregon. The Oregon Treasury manages $75 billion, much of it encased in state retirement plans, college savings plan, etc. When addressing public concerns, especially questions like, “Should I rely on Social Security?” his answer is always, “No. Hell, no!” Most people he speaks with are concerned about the role of government in their financially secure future.

Wheeler also mentioned that the lack of clarity in the treasury allows for some out-of-the-box thinking. He is driving to expand thinking in two main areas: Protecting overall financial health and generating economic activity and job growth. His assertion is that laying this foundation now of competitiveness, viability will allow us to compete in the world economy 10, 15, 20 years from now.

He said that Oregon takes the lead into recessions, goes down hard, then bounces back quickly. Oregon’s third largest industry/export is agricultural (wine is included in this). We in Oregon also pay the highest Capital Gains rate in the nation, have no sales tax, and fairly high property taxes. Because of this, Oregon has a volatile revenue structure. “When times are tough, we get shellacked.” He continued, “When incoming companies look at our tax structure, with our capital gains, they say it’s tough to invest here, when we can cross over into Washington, which has the lowest capital gains tax in the nation.”

Bigham Knoll's beautiful "gymnasium" is the perfect venue

Oregon’s credit rating has proven successful. “We are one of few states with a AA+ rating by Standard & Poors, due to our fiscal responsibility of debt.”

“Sometimes, in Oregon, we are a little too nice, and not as aggressive as we should be. We need to beef-up actions in our economic development strategies. Lack of investment capital is an issue. Some businesses are ready to grow, hire, and expand, but don’t have the investment capital. They are strong credit risks, pay loans on time, and banks are just sitting on potential loan capital. Banks are stating that they have no control now, and not much is worth their risk.”

So, Wheeler is creating the Oregon Credit and Finance Board – to work with our banks to help them support local businesses. “The private sector is leading the way, and needs public sector support.”

To finish up, Wheeler emphasized that the state needs to be fiscally disciplined, live within its means and take a new look at the services we fund. “Governor Kitzhaber is looking at a 10-year runway. He doesn’t want to cut important programs by cutting the budget. We have to look long-term. We may save some dollars now, but in the future, the result will be that those programs we cut will cost us way more in the future to then subsidize, compensate for, etc. We have to invest today for future success.”

Ashland Partners was founded in 1992 by Mel Ashland with the sole vision of providing compliance consultation and verification services to the investment management community.

Today, Ashland Partners is a leading service provider in a rapidly growing marketplace.

  • Serving firms worldwide.
  • Six offices located in Jacksonville, Jersey City, Boston, Shanghai, Tokyo and Seoul.
  • 100% of the professional resources are dedicated to GIPS verification and compliance consultation.
  • Continuing to offer world class and efficient service without being distracted by other lines of business.