Can The MBTA Pension Fund Be Saved?

Last month, the chief of the MBTA's retirement fund announced he would step down from the post in August.

Over the past two years, the $1.5 billion fund has seen investment returns of less than 1 percent. Meanwhile, the MBTA's funding gap — between future retiree benefits and the money available to pay them — has topped $940 million.

Mulhern's resignation also followed Gov. Charlie Baker's signing of a bill to make the pension plan subject to public records law. But transparency is only one part of the equation, according to Mark Williams, executive-in-residence at Boston University.

Mark T. Williams, executive-in-residence and master lecturer at Boston University. He tweets @UncontrolRisk.