"I feel comfortable that our pay plan is very reasonable and well thought-out," Schultze said. ""The board is very sensitive to making sure they have a compensation plan that keeps these people with VRS. We think that having a highly skilled investment staff is money well spent."

VRS board Chairwoman Diana F. Cantor said the portfolio’s performance more than doubled its target rate last year, which was the main reason large bonuses were paid.

“We’ll be rewarding them in times when they’ve done above and beyond, but they also understand that if there is a downturn in the economy or market they will be participating in those times.”

Edwin T. Burton III, a former VRS board member and an economics professor at the University of Virginia, said the VRS board has "fallen in love" with complicated investments that require high-paid experts. But he said a simpler plan without fees that basically fell and rose with the stock market would have seen a better return on investment and allowed more money to go into the market instead of into investors’ pockets. Burton has advocated a 70-30 split in stocks and bonds indexed against the market.

And the benchmarks set by the board aren’t tough enough, he said.