Might Wade Steen be the next executive director of STRS? Keep your fingers crossed - they don't come any better!

Ohio teachers' pension fund to hunt for new director. Will it have to look far?

Laura A. Bischoff 

Columbus Dispatch 

September 30, 2024

The State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio will launch a search for a new executive director. Former STRS board member Wade Steen could be eligible to apply for the job.

The State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio will launch a search for a new executive director. Former STRS board member Wade Steen could be eligible to apply for the job. Kyle Robertson/Columbus Dispatch

The State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio is expected to launch a national search for a new executive director but it may not have to look far to find a potential candidate who is popular with some board members.

Wade Steen, who left the STRS board on Sept. 27, is a certified public accountant with decades of financial and government experience and knowledge of how the pension fund works.

Steen could apply, as long as he didn't play a role in creating the job while serving on the board, according to the Ohio Ethics Commission. Steen abstained from voting on a $1.65 million buyout agreement with Bill Neville, the previous executive director. He attended executive sessions leading up to the buyout agreement.

The hiring, which is done by the 11-member STRS board, must be a fair, open process, according to the Ethics Commission.

While ethic law seems to provide a path for Steen, an STRS board policy requires former board members to sit out for a year. The board can change its policies.

When asked if Steen might be interested in being executive director, STRS Board Chairman Rudy Fichtenbaum said "You'd have to ask him. I have no idea."

Steen declined to respond to a question about the job. But he was a finalist to lead another Ohio pension fund in 2012.

Who is Wade Steen?

Steen, a Republican, is a long-time figure in local politics and government posts. He worked in the state auditor’s office and served on Rickenbacker Port Authority, Franklin County Children’s Services board, and the Columbus Metropolitan Housing Authority board.

In May 2001, Steen won an appointment as Franklin County treasurer but lost an election to Democrat Richard Cordray 18 months later. He later won a seat on the Upper Arlington City Council.

Steen served as Cuyahoga County’s chief fiscal officer from 2011 to 2013 when he returned home for a job as public funds administrator for Meeder Investment Management in Dublin.

Currently, he’s the chief financial officer for Cleveland Metro Parks and has a hand in five businesses, including accounting, consulting and real estate firms.

Lawsuits and controversies

Gov. John Kasich appointed Steen to the STRS board in 2016 and Gov. Mike DeWine reappointed him. In May 2023, DeWine replaced Steen with another appointee. Steen launched a legal fight to get back on the board, winning a court order in April 2024.

Serving on the STRS board doesn’t pay anything and it is a huge responsibility. The board holds marathon meetings two days a month, hires consultants and an executive director, determines policies and decides how to invest $94 billion to make sure 500,000 retirees and teachers get their pension checks.

By law, board members have a fiduciary duty to act in the best interest of STRS.

In May, Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed suit to remove Steen and Fichtenbaum from the STRS board, arguing that they violated their fiduciary duty.

Yost argues in the lawsuit that Steen and Fichtenbaum as well as two former board members, Yoel Mayerfeld and Bob Stein attacked STRS and advocated for QED, a relatively new investment firm. Yost said in the lawsuit that Steen and Fichtenbaum have "backdoor ties" to QED and have tried to steer $65 billion to QED.

Both men deny the allegation and are fighting the lawsuit.

In September, the Ohio Retirement for Teachers Association, a non-profit organization that lobbies STRS for policy and benefit changes, disclosed that it Dave Yost filed suit to remove Steen and Fichtenbaum to cover their legal fees. Those gifts could run afoul with the ethics law.

Whether STRS board members are prohibited from accepting gifts from ORTA would have to be determined via an investigation by the Ohio Ethics Commission.

Ethics investigations are confidential by law until there is a settlement or a referral to a local prosecutor.

Read the article online here. 

STRS and "Crappy Investments".....

From John Curry

September 30, 2024

Recently it was said that Chris Tobe, a current employee of The Hackett Group investment advisors, was the co-author of Ted Siedle's book "How To Steal A Lot Of Money Legally." That, my friends, IS A LIE. Chris wrote only 1 chapter (out of 24 chapters) in this book....that is a measly sum of 4 (FOUR) percent! If that is co-authoring, I'll eat my hat.

Chris Tobe wrote chapter 21 (only) and when you read it below (just 7 pages)....you'll get an understanding why Ms. Hoover doesn't want anything to do with Hackett....especially Tobe. Chris has a perfect understanding how the crooks at Wall Street ply their trade....and Hoover knows it!

THIS IS ALL THE MORE REASON TEACHERS NEED THE HACKETT GROUP TO BE OUR FINANCIAL ADVISORS - THEY SCARE THE HELL OUT OF THE STRS ADMINISTRATION! Rightly so! Here is that Chapter 21...it should be chiseled in stone!

P.S. News media, are you paying attention? You should be!

P.S. 2 I keep looking at the cover of this book and nowhere can I find the name "Chris Tobe!" Wouldn't you think that if he was the "co-author" that his name would be found somewhere on this cover?

About Chris Tobe: a must-read

From John Curry

September 30, 2024

Why do I admire Chris Tobe and his dedication to ferreting out crooks? I think this article does an excellent job of explaining.....

"There were a lot of crooked deals going on,” Tobe said. “But, really, it was nothing compared to what I saw happening once the hedge funds and private equity got involved.” 

If you read this article below you'll get to really know THE REAL CHRIS TOBE!

When Tobe left government in 1999 to return to the private sector, each of the pension funds had enough money to meet its financial obligations to retirees.

https://theintercept.com/2018/10/21/kentucky-pensions-crisis-hedge-funds/

Click here to read Chris Tobe's bio: Meet Chris Tobe

All hell breaks loose at STRS when the truth comes out! Read on.....

"These extreme conflicts of interest combined with the Siedle Forensic Audit may attract some attention from the SEC and/or FBI if not immediatelly addressed."

-- Chris Tobe

From John Curry

September 30, 2024

So, just why do the STRS Administration and Ohio politicians fear Hackett Group getting the financial advisory consultant contract for STRS?

Well...it's a story that we have to backtrack a few years to an INDEPENDENT study done for ORTA by one of Hackett's current employees - Chris Tobe. The pages below were NOT a Hackett production but a production by Chris Tobe himself.

What he wrote was a damning exposure of greed and corruption at STRS. This finding laid bare the STRS administration's misspending, mismanagement and entitlement mentality to their employees for the whole world to see.

Today Mr. Tobe works for Hackett....and this fact alone scares the hell out of STRS.

Here is that 2021 study that put egg all over the faces at STRS...as well as the Statehouse just a few blocks away. YES, IT IS DAMNING....AS IT SHOULD BE.

THE FOLLOWING 5 PAGES ARE WHY HACKETT SCARES THE HELL OUT OF THE STRS ADMINISTRATION!

STRS BOARD AND OHIO NEWSPAPERS, ARE YOU PAYING ATTENTION TO THIS POST? YOU SHOULD!!!

From Joe Lupo

September 30, 2024

"The board is bringing a lot of wrath on themselves. They are procrastinators, and that behavior doesn't justify patience. They are allowing lame-duck Hoover to continue to manipulate what is going on. At some point, they are going to stand their ground or walk away so someone else will do what they haven't done because of a lack of courage and weak leadership."