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Some critics, such as former state finance director James White, argue that Bronner enjoys unusual authority and that RSA's boards of directors (one for the teachers' fund and another for the general employee fund), which together constitute the only body that could remove him, have become "rubber stamps" for his maverick ways. Bronner, who earns $308,000 a year (compared with $96,361 for the Governor), calls that charge "nonsense," but can't cite an instance in which either board reined in any of his investment plans. He says that he intends to give his $40,000 board fee from US Airways to a relief fund for airline employees.

For all the controversy over RSA's investment in US Airways, Bronner is already looking beyond that deal. During a recent Alabama trade mission to Cuba (where he got his Cohibas), Bronner, a golf enthusiast, couldn't help but notice the investment potential, exclaiming: "They've only got 27 holes in the whole country!" --With reporting by Frank Sikora/Birmingham