STRS comes up with a figure that "nobody supposedly knew or cared about"...on the very next day! Gee -- imagine that!!

From John Curry, October 20, 2008
Columbus Dispatch
October 20, 2008

Scratch that - We lost $7.8 billion!

The Ohio State Teachers Retirement System told The Dispatch repeatedly last week that it couldn't say how much it had lost during the October stock market drop, when indexes took historic plunges.

The most current figure STRS could provide was through Sept. 30, the end of the last quarter, said agency spokeswoman Laura Ecklar, noting that the system is a long-term investor unconcerned with the short-term swings of markets. However, by the next day, STRS had somehow come up with the loss figure that nobody supposedly knew or cared about when it reported to its board that in the first 10 trading days of October, it had lost another $7.8 billion, or 12.4 percent of the fund, which stood at $55.1 billion, according to board member Dennis Leone.

"In 12 months we've dropped $25 billion," or 31 percent, Leone said.

One agency that is beating the big stock-heavy state pensions funds by losing less is the Ohio Bureau of Workers' Compensation, which after the Noe scandal went highly conservative in its investments with 80 percent in bonds and 3 percent in cash. Through last Friday, its fund was down 13.9 percent from the start of the year, and stood at $15.4 billion, an official said.

Posted by Bill Bush, education reporter on October 20, 2008