Head of NC employee retirement funds let go

Steve Toole was executive director of North Carolina Retirement Systems, overseeing more than $90 billion in state-sponsored retirement funds. His last day was Tuesday, the Department of the State Treasurer confirmed Wednesday.

"We are very appreciative of Steve’s service to the state and wish him well in any future endeavors," department spokesman Frank Lester said in an email. "However, looking out over the next 10 years, our challenges are significant, including the largest increase in retirements in the system’s history. This fact and others led the treasurer to the conclusion that we need a change in direction."

Toole's final salary with the state was about $245,000 a year. He oversaw a number retirement funds for state employees, teachers, local government employees, judges and the legislature.

The various funds in the division cover more than 900,000 public employees in the state, or one in eight working North Carolinians, according to the Treasurer's Office.