WKRC-TV in Cincinnati: April 16 interview with Jim Stoll re: STRS bonuses; link to video
Bonuses Paid While Fund Loses Millions
WKRC-TV, Cincinnati
April 16, 2009
See video: Bonuses Paid While Fund Loses Millions
April 16, 2009
See video: Bonuses Paid While Fund Loses Millions
[Click images to enlarge]
It's a retirement plan you help pay for, even if you've never heard of it. The State Teachers Retirement System in Ohio is partially funded by taxpayers and partially by teachers themselves. Like just about everyone
these days, the plan has been hit hard by the troubled economy.
It's a retirement plan you help pay for, even if you've never heard of it. The State Teachers Retirement System in Ohio is partially funded by taxpayers and partially by teachers themselves. Like just about everyone
these days, the plan has been hit hard by the troubled economy. But as Local 12 Reporter Jeff Hirsh shows ... compensation for pension fund staff has been going north ... while their investments have been going south.
The State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio ...ST
RS... is no stranger to controversy. Several years ago, Local 12 revealed the agency spent thousands of dollars on artwork and out of town trips, and millions of dollars on bonuses, while benefit costs skyrocketed. Now, a critic says, they're at it again.
RS... is no stranger to controversy. Several years ago, Local 12 revealed the agency spent thousands of dollars on artwork and out of town trips, and millions of dollars on bonuses, while benefit costs skyrocketed. Now, a critic says, they're at it again. "Absolutely, it's the Wall Street establishment mentality at a public pension system."
Jim Stoll is the athletic director at Sycamore High School, and a candidate for th
e STRS board. Stoll says STRS has lost 33 billion dollars the last 18 months .... 42 per cent of the fund's assets ... and yet, the agency plans bonuses for 87 investment employees. One bonus is as high as 162-thousand dollars. The total is more than 3-million and that's on top of recent salary increases.
e STRS board. Stoll says STRS has lost 33 billion dollars the last 18 months .... 42 per cent of the fund's assets ... and yet, the agency plans bonuses for 87 investment employees. One bonus is as high as 162-thousand dollars. The total is more than 3-million and that's on top of recent salary increases. Jim Stoll, STRS Board Candidate: "This guy was making 270-thousand dollars. In one year, he got a 39,500 dollar raise. Then there's a bonus on top of that? A bonus on top of that."
STRS says having both fixed pay and bonuses is "a commonly accepted practice" in the investment field. It says STRS 
is in the bottom 25 percent of total compensation in the industry ... and it says STRS is run in an "extremely cost-effective" manner. Plus, STRS plans to temporarily suspend the bonuses, paying only 7/12ths of the planned amount to eligible workers.
is in the bottom 25 percent of total compensation in the industry ... and it says STRS is run in an "extremely cost-effective" manner. Plus, STRS plans to temporarily suspend the bonuses, paying only 7/12ths of the planned amount to eligible workers. But Jim Stoll says any bonus is outrageous when retired teachers may face benefit cuts due to STRS losses. If elected, Stoll says, he'll push to get th
ose bonuses cut to zero.
ose bonuses cut to zero. "Teachers should, taxpayers should be up in arms."
The STRS says it paid health and pension benefits to 126-thousand retired teachers and their families last year ... totaling nearly five-billion dollars. The agency's board will vote on the bonuses this fall.
[Note: In October 2007, STRS assets were valued at $80 billion. In March 2009, the value was estimated to be $48 billion.]
Labels: assets, bonuses, investment staff, Jim Stoll, STRS, STRS Board
posted by Kathie Bracy at 6:35 PM
<< Home