I edited it because "irresponsible" wasn't strong enough in this case. What they did was idiotic. I think they were on the stupid side...with this kind of money floating around, any hint of kickbacks or corruption would quickly float to the surface. I'm sure that the funds they invested in were run by world class investors, but the pension manager(s) simply didn't understand the implications of the fee agreement.
I don't think that the pension managers were sophisticated, but rather were idiots. They went to world class bankers to deal with the money, who did a world class job of creating an awesome fee structure for themselves.