Public pensions own payday lender that is illegal in their own states

Going back to colonial days, it has been illegal for payday lenders to operate in the state of New York. Same goes for neighboring New Jersey.

But public pension funds in both states are indirect owners of ACE Cash Express Inc., the nation’s second-largest payday lender. It’s not an illegal arrangement, but it sure borders on hypocritical.

Texas-based ACE was a publicly traded company until October 2006, when it was acquired for around $455 million by JLL Partners, a middle-market private equity firm that is currently in the midst of raising $1.1 billion for its seventh fund.

At the time of its original acquisition, JLL managing director Frank Rodriguez said that the deal “presents a wonderful opportunity for us to work with the company in continuing its development as a market leader in the retail financial services industry.” What Rodriguez didn’t add, however, was that the buyout was partially being bankrolled by public workers in states that found ACE’s business to be predatory.

Read more: http://fortune.com/2015/04/20/public-pensions-payday-loans/