Florida holding $2.2 billion of junk debt

Here's a good read from the mailbag. The Florida agency that manages about $50 billion of short-term investments for the state is holding over $2 billion of debt that was cut below investment grade. State investment pools like Florida's are exempt from the SEC's rules and reporting requirements for money-market funds.

We have some impressive system directors in Arkansas that are moving in a direction towards real estate to ensure that asset allocation is less exposed or dependent on domestic equity holdings in order to withstand any serious future weakness in our stock market. This can be somewhat controversial due to the U.S. housing market concerns. Listening to an actuary testify in committee can be mind-numbing, but this story lets you know how important an agency's investments can be -- your retirement may be at stake.