Robin Rayfield to STRS board: ".....over the years of turmoil here, the membership has spoken very loudly and clearly that change is necessary.

The membership has spoken very loudly and clearly that change is necessary!

Robin Rayfield's speech to STRS board
October 17, 2024

My name is Dr. Robin Rayfield. I am the Executive Director of ORTA. Thanks for the opportunity.

I had prepared remarks, but I'm going to deviate from them.

I think it's important to say thank you for the recent action to try to do something to help all parties.

We've always been about fixing the system, not simply about COLA.

But over the years of turmoil here, the membership has spoken very loudly and clearly that change is necessary.Unfortunately, the motivation, or the information underneath that desire for change, has often been characterized by management primarily as misinformation.

Understand that misinformation, if I don't agree with it, I call it misinformation. However, if I agree with it, it's information. So, I think we all have to recognize that.I've suggested two simple things, at no cost, that would help fix the trust and, we think, would help put STRS on a good track.

The first is, comply with the transparency that we have all asked for. There is a magistrate's order that said share the documentation behind the alternative investments.

The second thing we could do, very related, is move out of those opaque investments, and increase our passive investment strategies. The Auditor of State has confirmed we would do better. Save hundreds of millions of dollars to get, maybe better, but certainly similar, returns.

The last thing I would say is this: last month you did a great presentation on purchasing power. I wouldn't have been able to do it, but it was great. We've gone backward 21% in the last decade.

In that same decade, STRS compensation increased by 58%.

There's a disconnect between us being a partner. It's not a partnership if one person pays all the bills and the other person reaps all the benefits from those sacrificing.

Thank you.

Blade Editorial: The coming crisis is a manmade disaster by imprudent Ohio lawmakers. Simply requiring state pensions to make the terms of their investment contracts transparent would be enough to keep them out of one-sided deals like Panda Power.

Toledo Blade

October 18, 2024

Prudent person fallacy

Now, after nearly 30 years of ‘prudent person’ investing with hundreds of deals totaling tens of billions of dollars with terms like those in the Panda Power fund, STRS wants a 28.5 percent increase from taxpayers to bailout the fund.

THE BLADE EDITORIAL BOARD

Since 1997 Ohio’s public pensions and the Bureau of Workers’ Compensation have used the Orwellian “prudent person” standard to make the most risky, ill-fated investments in state history.

Rare coins and Beanie Babies in the portfolio managed by Toledoan Tom Noe, with such independence he was able to steal millions from the fund, was possible because of the Ohio legislature’s bad judgment. It’s a mistake the General Assembly has not corrected.

A $525 million loss by the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio in a private equity investment called Panda Power is revealing for the imprudence the “prudent person” law allows. STRS lost the entire investment. News of the investment debacle leaked from STRS in 2021.

The offering documents for the Panda Power fund shows the need for reform. The prospectus provided to the Ohio Retirement for Teachers Association’s pension consultant Edward Siedle is just like hundreds of other private investments in all of the Ohio pension fund portfolios.

The document demands secrecy. STRS was forbidden to share the document or disclose the information in the document without Panda’s written permission.

Panda warned that the investment in merchant power would bring “no significant returns for a substantial period of time.” The deal tied up the pension investment for 10 years with an option allowing Panda to extend the terms two more years.

The management fee of 2 percent on $525 million of committed capital is $10.5 million a year. If Panda produced more than an 8 percent return, the managers got 20 percent of that profit. Taxes and expenses were also borne by STRS. Panda warned they would be substantial.

The risk factor tied to the 20 percent profit share for Panda was red-flagged from day one. The agreement “creates an incentive to make more speculative investments than would otherwise be the case,” Panda warned in the prospectus for the fund. Panda told STRS they would be investing in “companies that have a checkered financial history.”

Panda warned they would be using leverage and investing in leveraged companies bringing an opportunity for enhanced returns or a large loss of capital.

The value of the investments would be solely determined by Panda with the warning that there could be a material difference between carrying value and market value.

Now, after nearly 30 years of “prudent person” investing with hundreds of deals totaling tens of billions of dollars with terms like those in the Panda Power fund, STRS wants a 28.5 percent increase from taxpayers to bail out the fund.

The prudent investors at the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System and the Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund also want much more money from taxpayers for the same purpose.

Since 1997, the S&P 500, which used to be the staple of Ohio pension funds, has increased 1,073.11 percent, or 9.40 percent a year. This easily beats every Ohio pensions’ annual assumed rate of return.

The coming crisis is a manmade disaster by imprudent Ohio lawmakers. Simply requiring state pensions to make the terms of their investment contracts transparent would be enough to keep them out of one-sided deals like Panda Power.

So you were NOT promised a COLA when you retired? Look again!

From a 2007 STRS publication:

 

Trina Prufer to STRS board: STRS has been shattered beyond recognition as a benevolent manager of retirement savings. The State of Ohio owns this, and needs to fix it, with an increase in funding, going directly into restoring benefits.

Trina Prufer's speech to STRS board

October 17, 2024

My name is Trina Prufer. I retired at 30 years and was a School Psychologist for 20 of those years. My husband passed away before retiring, having taught Anthropology at Kent State University for 40 years.

The title of this short presentation is: The Pottery Barn Rule: “You break it, you own it”

I would like to remind this board that teachers had nothing to do with running up the STRS unfunded liability… that occurred because the organization wasted far too much on mismanagement. Its core responsibility was to pay the benefits obligated by the ORC and it failed miserably in delivering on its mission.

Teachers were assured of a secure lifelong benefit at an adequate percentage of their final average salary (FAS), which in my day was 66%. That was the purpose of the 3% annual, automatic cola, which is a normal component of a defined-benefit pension, in a non-social security state.

So, what does that STRS defined benefit look like today? After ten years without a cola, that 66% FAS diminishes to about 49% purchasing power. After 20 years, which is the official plan to reach 100% funding, the purchasing power reduces to about 36%. Additionally, active teachers are paying 14% for a benefit with a normal cost of 11%. No other public teacher retirement system, in a non-social security state, has ever harmed its members to this degree.

In 2012, STRS the Ohio Legislature took the easiest and most imprudent way out of its funding dilemma. It shifted the blame and responsibility of fixing the pension shortfall onto individual teachers, who are the least able to absorb this enormous cost. Do teachers not have the need to pay for groceries, housing, medicine and support care as we age? Are we not human? Why is STRS even a retirement system if it pushes its oldest retirees into poverty?

STRS has been shattered beyond recognition as a benevolent manager of retirement savings. The State of Ohio owns this, and needs to fix it, with an increase in funding, going directly into restoring benefits. Pay what is owed, restructure STRS to reflect the needs of educators, and rewrite the law, so state workers are protected from financial abuse. The state legislature needs to take responsibility for what it broke, and just do, what needs to be done.

Toledo Blade: One-time check to be paid to retired Ohio teachers in December

Toledo Blade

October 17, 2024

By Jim Provance

Retired Ohio teachers to get 1-time checks in December

 COLUMBUS — The bigger question of a future cost-of-living adjustment still up in the air, the board governing the Ohio’s pension fund for teachers on Thursday set aside a total of $306 million for one-time benefit payments for retirees.

The State Teachers Retirement System board figures it has room for $882 million for possible distribution but opted to hold back most of that now in anticipation of a vote on potentially restoring a COLA next spring.

The supplemental benefit, credited to the fund's strong investment earnings, would amount to an average boost of $1,720 for retirees, depending on years of service and time collecting benefits.

The payments, subject to tax withholding, would be made in December.

“It is one time, and it is not an ongoing commitment,” said board member Alison Lanza Falls, an appointee of Republican state Treasurer Robert Sprague. “It’s also a positive. ... The major concern I have is setting expectations.”

“... When we have short memories and when there are many people around who remember the phrase ‘the 13th check,’ they remember that 13th check went on for years and years and years ...,” she said. “I just think that’s a risk we can’t ignore, and it’s also a risk we can’t control.”

STRS, one of the largest public employee pension funds in the nation, has assets exceeding $90 billion. While strong investment performance has improved the fund’s bottom line, it is still considered to be 10 years away from being fully funded with enough assets on hand to cover its expected liabilities.

Some retirees are still angry over the board’s decision to do away with automatic annual COLAs and have criticized decisions of the board to pay performance bonuses to in-house investment staff.

The board looked at several options, including a possible combination of a COLA and one-time check. It plans to send notices, possibly with the next checks, to stress that this payment is no “13th check.”

“I want to reinstate the COLA, but I don’t want people to get confused with that,” said Carol Correthers, representing contributing members. “If [the supplemental payment] doesn’t happen again, then they’re going to be saying, ‘Why didn’t you do it again?’”

A one-time payment would be available to all retirees who've retired prior to this year. There is a five-year waiting period to benefit from a COLA.

This month's meeting had two new faces at the table.

Gov. Mike DeWine recently appointed Jon Allison, who served as aide to Republican Gov. Bob Taft, to replace Wade Steen, whose term expired last month.

Mr. Steen, allied with the retiree reformers, returned to the board earlier this year under court order after Mr. DeWine had removed him months earlier. The court found that the governor lacked the legal authority to remove his own appointee in mid-term.

Also new was Carolyn Everidge Frey, appointed by the Department of Education and Workforce to replace Scott Hunt.

Attorney General Dave Yost has sued to have Mr. Steen and current board chairman, Rudy Fichtenbaum, removed, alleging they violated their fiduciary duties to the system by promoting a questionable investment scheme. That case is still pending.

All of this occurs as the board is dealing with the pending departure of its executive director, Lynn Hoover, and the previous resignation of its chief investment officer, Matt Worley.

Read the article online here.

Robin Beebe to STRS board: "if a cup of coffee, a box of popcorn, or a plate of cookies would not be prohibited under the Ohio Ethics Law, surely a simple piece of celebration cake should be acceptable?????"

Robin Beebe's speech to STRS board

October 17, 2024

My name is Robin Beebe. Retired teacher of mainly 4th Graders and Kindergarteners. 35 years. Fremont City Schools and Perrysburg Schools. Retired for 15 years. Please start your 3 minute timer now.

After receiving a scolding lecture on gifting at the last September STRS Board Meeting, I thought to myself, "Hmmmmm....... I need to check this out further...."

And this is what I found...."The State of Ohio Ethics Commission - Gifts".

As a former Kindergarten teacher, let me explain to you what I discovered as I would to my kinders, straight forward, plain and simple.....I will share the pertinent sections.

"The Ethics Law prohibits a public official from soliciting or accepting 'anything of value' , if the thing of value could have a substantial and improper influence on him in the performance of public duties.

'Anything of value' is defined in state law to essentially include anything with any monetary value. So, before a public servant accepts a gift or thing of value, both the source and the value must be considered.

Examples of substantial gifts include outside consulting jobs or private employment, payment of debts, loans, travel to exotic locations, lavish meals, entertainment activities, such as golf outings or season tickets for a professional sports team, or significant discounts on major consumer items.

In Advisory Opinion 2001-03, the Commission offered examples of substantial things of value which cannot be accepted, but also gave examples of items that are considered nominal under the law.

Items that are considered nominal -  and therefore not prohibited - could include a cup of coffee, a box of popcorn, an inexpensive picture frame, or a plate of cookies.

Accepting gifts of this type would not be prohibited under the law. Be aware, though, that the Commission has cautioned that nominal items or expenses could have a substantial cumulative value if extended over time."

I hope this helps clarify some things.

In conclusion, plain and simple, if a cup of coffee, a box of popcorn, or a plate of cookies would not be prohibited under the Ohio Ethics Law, surely a simple piece of celebration cake should be acceptable?????

And so, as the old saying goes....."Let them eat (chocolate) cake!" Seriously!!!!! Gheesh!!!

Cathy Steinhauser to STRS board: Intimidating board members through lies is despicable. Do the right thing and restore our COLA sooner than later.

Cathy Steinhauser's speech to STRS board

October 17, 2024

Cathy Steinhauser – 35 yrs., satellite teacher of Family & Consumer Sciences through Pickaway/Ross CTC for Circleville City Schools.

I am aware that we now have two new board members this month. Welcome, and STRS pensioners are counting on you to do what’s right in making decisions that impact our everyday lives.  I’m a person who has the reputation for reminding the board members of their fiduciary duty.  You see, I have been schooling the board members on this topic for over 20 board mtgs.  Yes, you heard that right…it’s 21 now. Why do I keep doing this, you might be thinking? As teachers, we will repeat a lesson until the class fully understands it…sometimes it takes 20 or more repeated reminders. It’s been apparent to us pensioners that a lot of decisions haven’t been made with our best interests in mind. We have been missing a permanent COLA for many years. I have been retired for almost 9-1/2 yrs. and have discovered that I am deficient in my COLA by $45,000!! Yes, that’s what I said…$45,000.  I didn’t cause this, I didn’t do anything wrong as I paid my 10%, then 14% over 35 years and then 6 more years after retirement working in our after school program twice a week, so more was paid beyond.  I trusted STRS to do what they were hired to do and now, as our acting Executive Director said in response to a reporter’s question, “It feels like a slap in the face”. We pensioners have had to tighten our belts for way too long.  We have members who are living in poverty due to no sufficient COLA.  We’ve had pensioners die before getting consistent COLAs. We have pensioners these past 4 yrs. experiencing real hardship with prices up on groceries, gas, utilities, clothing etc. but STRS staff and investment group have been given bonuses to make their lives even more enriched. Shameful, disgusting, disrespectful and STRS owns this.

I’ll leave you with the definition of FIDUCIARY again from The Merriam-Webster Dictionary: “A person who acts on behalf of another person or persons putting the client’s interests ahead of their own, with a duty to preserve good faith and trust. Being a fiduciary requires being bound both LEGALLY AND ETHICALLY to act in others' best interests”.  In other words, fiduciaries at STRS are required to take care of ONLY the pensioners.  With all the unethical decisions that have occurred the past 20 years, there should be many serving time and/or restitution or fired. Too many irresponsible mistakes have occurred in 20 yrs. If pensioners aren’t given a COLA, no one at STRS should be given a bonus. A mess has been made of STRS and needs to be cleaned up.  STRS needs to run this pension more frugally.

I also still haven’t found any information about a pension fiduciary obligated to being a fiduciary to the STRS employees, which was mentioned during a board meeting a few months ago…most likely because it is a lie…certain people in this room should not speak of things they know not of. Intimidating board members through lies is despicable. Do the right thing and restore our COLA sooner than later.

Suzanne Laird to STRS board: I’m begging, not for treats, but for what I and all Ohio teachers deserve: a secure and stable retirement.

Suzanne Laird's speech to STRS board

October 17, 2024

Good Morning/afternoon, Members of my Board:

I would like to welcome our new appointees and pay compliments to several of our current teacher representatives for asking the tough questions. These teacher reps hit the ground running and can help you, as new Board members this October, separate the treats from the tricks.

At this time of year, we caution students against becoming too greedy with candy, yet here, at STRS, the greed is rampant.

At least SEVEN STRS employees make over half a million dollars a year when you combine their outrageous salaries with their treats — excuse me — bonuses. Even the custodial staff averages $61,000/year: more than some rural Ohio teachers! And, as you have seen, their surroundings are a treat for the eyes, the envy of every educator.

Those of you appointed by the governor: are you aware that 90 staff members at STRS earn more than your boss?! The tricks don’t stop there; you will witness vanity projects like the Stakeholder Task Force, proposed to waste thousands, free parking, a 10 dollar a month gym, and a cafeteria which loses hundreds of thousands of dollars every year.

Ahh, but they will try to trick you into believing that none of this largesse would bring back the COLA or reduce the number of years for active teachers. Ten years of bonuses in the 5 million dollar range would help, but the Attorney General’s ghouls haunt every meeting, scaring the Board into giving out more candy.

Do not be tricked. We educators were tricked into believing that we could trust our own retirement system. Now, we are being told that we did not contribute enough, (although we had no say: the actuary determined the amount which was withheld from our pay), and that we are living too long. But sadly, the graveyards are filling up with retirees dying to receive a COLA. Wait another ten years, we are told.

I’m frightened. I’m scared for the future of education in Ohio, and you should be, too.

I’m begging, not for treats, but for what I and all Ohio teachers deserve: a secure and stable retirement.

Dean Dennis to STRS board: Today, I still think adopting a formula-generated EA approach is more reasonable than following the 7% EA crowd. Remember, the crowd also has variable employer contribution rates, whereas we don’t. It’s time we demonstrate we are a top-tier pension system.

From Dean Dennis

October 17, 2024

October 17, 2024 - Dean Dennis, 35 yrs, Cincinnati Public Schools. ORTA Executive Chair.

I will read a quick section of the September 2024 Newsletter from the Ohio Public Employees Retirement System.

“The OPERS Board of Trustees approved updates to OPERS’ funding policies, establishing a decision-making framework to manage the future funding of the system's pension and health care plans.

The new policies came about because the trustees had expressed interest in creating a system to reduce funding risks by setting clear objective parameters honed on past experience that trustees will reference in the future to make prudent funding decisions.”

The new policies include the following update: Setting a systematic, formula-driven approach to identify potential actions for the trustees to manage funding and risks.

I bring this to your attention because on October 17, 2019, five years ago. I stood before the Board and presented the following:

Ohio Statute sets our funding period at 30 years. Over the last 40 years, has STRS earned less than 8% over any rolling 30 funding-year period? I believe we achieved around 8.5% over our previous 30-year period. So, why is our Earnings Assumption set at 7.45%, over 100 basis points less than what we are actually earning?

Why hasn't our Board adopted a reasonable EA formula that ties the actual earnings of our 30-year rolling funding periods and then adjusts the EA accordingly? Why can't we adopt an EA 50-60 basis points lower than what we earn and adjust accordingly every five years? If an EA of 7.9% were adopted, 60 basis points lower than what we are earning over our 30-year funding period, it would reduce billions from our 30-year liabilities. As fiduciaries, you could restore a COLA.

In March 2017, the Board drastically reduced the EA from 7.75% to 7.45%, dismissing the reality of our historical 30-year earning returns. Thirty months later, our 10-year earnings period netted a return of 10.44%, nearly 300 basis points above the current adopted EA. Adopting a reasonable formula-based earning assumption is not irresponsible; however, withholding benefits because of a lack of one is irresponsible.

Today, I still think adopting a formula-generated EA approach is more reasonable than following the 7% EA crowd. Remember, the crowd also has variable employer contribution rates, whereas we don’t. It’s time we demonstrate we are a top-tier pension system.

National Council on Teacher Retirement and National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems Use Dirty Tricks To Undermine Pension Wrongdoing Investigations

Two industry organizations which pensions pay membership dues to attend lavish conferences sponsored by Wall Street at luxury venues secretly work to thwart transparency and accountability reforms. 

By Edward Siedle

Pension Warriors
October 15, 2024

Unless you’re a state or local pension board or staff member, you’ve probably never heard of the National Council on Teacher Retirement (NCTR) and National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS). Maybe your public pension proudly posts on its website so-called “awards” issued by these organizations for supposed “excellence.” Still, you really don’t know anything about NCTR and NCPERS and are understandably suspicious as to whether their industry “awards” have any real value.

Most likely, tens of thousands of your pension dollars are squandered annually to pay for your pension’s board and staff members to attend lavish conferences at luxury venues, such as on the famed beaches of Waikiki, promoted by these organizations. If you want to know exactly how much of your retirement savings are paid to NCTR and NCPERS for these fetes, submit a public records request to your pension for all documents related to such memberships, fees, dues and travel. Share the information you receive with fellow pension stakeholders. They deserve to be told the truth.

If you want to know exactly how much of your retirement savings are paid to NCTR and NCPERS for these fetes, submit a public records request to your pension for all documents related to such memberships, fees, dues and travel. Share the information you receive with fellow pension stakeholders. They deserve to be told the truth.

In addition to the cash they rake in from trusting public pensions, NCTR and NCPERS garner exponentially greater dollars from Wall Street money managers who willingly fork over big bucks to sponsor NCTR and NCPERS conferences—all for the opportunity to pitch their costliest investment products to “the dumbest investors in the room,” i.e., funds overseen by laymen lacking any investment experience. These soirees are all about marketing.

How many of the Wall Street firms hired to manage your pension’s assets are sponsors of pricey NCTR and NCPERS boondoggles? The answer might be revealing.

In addition to the cash they rake in from public pensions, NCTR and NCPERS garner exponentially greater dollars from Wall Street money managers who willingly fork over big bucks to sponsor NCTR and NCPERS conferences—all for the opportunity to pitch their costliest investment products to “the dumbest investors in the room,” i.e., funds overseen by laymen lacking any investment experience.

•  NCTR and NCPERS Use Dirty Tricks To Thwart Minnesota and Other Forensic Investigations Nationally

While NCTR and NCPERS claim to somehow support public pensions—as they profit from Wall Street fleecing funds—recently released documents reveal both organizations secretly work to undermine transparency, accountability reforms and oppose the best interests of pension stakeholders—including participants and taxpayers.

As detailed in an earlier article, recently we were provided with documents from the Minnesota Teacher Retirement Association (TRA) which revealed TRA and State Board of Investment (SBI) senior investment staff and board members, state legislators and officials were alarmed that a proposed forensic investigation funded by thousands of Minnesota teachers into the TRA pension posed “many serious risks to the agency and pension fund. Specifically, TRA’s reputation as a trusted government agency is going to be questioned.” State officials were panicked.

On the other hand, NCTR and NCPERS assured state officials that any investigative findings would be a worthless “big pile of opinions” and “lies.” Further, NCTR and NCPERS offered to help officials—secretly, behind-the-scenes—undermine the Minnesota investigation, the investigator’s reputation and the “movement” for participant-funded reform-oriented investigations nationally.

NCTR and NCPERS offered to help—secretly, behind-the-scenes—officials undermine the Minnesota investigation, the investigator’s reputation and the “movement” for participant-funded reform-oriented investigations nationally.

TRA is a longstanding member of NCTR. Indeed, former TRA board members have been “honored” by NCTR for their participation in NCTR. TRA regularly includes in its Annual Report a Recognition Award for Administration presented by the Public Pension Coordinating Council, which is comprised of NCTR, NCPERS and the National Association of State Retirement Administrators. For what it’s worth—which isn’t much—the industry-conferred award is supposedly “in recognition of meeting professional standards for plan administration as set forth in the Public Pension Standards.”

TRA regularly pay tens of thousands of pension dollars for its officials to travel to and attend lavish NCTR conferences held at luxury venues.

As NCTR advertises on its website:

Interested in Partnering with NCTR?
Becoming an NCTR event sponsor gives you the opportunity to be in a face-to-face environment where you can network and increase market visibility. Gain the competitive advantage, while making direct connections with high-level decision makers from more than 63 public pension systems from across the nation, with combined assets exceeding $2 trillion in their trust funds.

The opportunity to directly pitch your investment products to unsophisticated funds with over $2 trillion in assets in a casual atmosphere, absent any pesty gatekeepers hired to rigorously review your reputation and credentials? That’s worth a lot—priceless.

The opportunity to directly pitch your investment products to unsophisticated funds with over $2 trillion in assets in a casual atmosphere, absent any pesty gatekeepers hired to rigorously review your reputation and credentials? That’s worth a lot—priceless.

So controversial are these industry conferences that the website for the 2013 National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems held on the famed beaches of Waikiki, supplied board members hoping to shore up support for their expenses-paid trip a “2013 Attendance Justification Tool Kit.” The site also included “7 Tips for Building Your Case for Attending the Annual Conference,” which suggests that trustees emphasize how the conference could help them “build a networking list” and identify ways to help “save your fund money.”

NCPERS is also involved in selling insurance products and other services to public employees, including TRA members, in Minnesota.

Here’s a nasty email from Leigh Snell, Federal Relations Director of NCTR, to an alarmed Jay Stoffel, the Executive Director of TRA dated March 5th:

Jay,

Dean just told me the ugly news about Ted Siedle going after your plan.

Ugh.

 have covered Siedle for quite some time. Most recently, he has been active in Rhode Island trying to “crowd source” an investigation of the plan’s actions and their impact on COLA’s. I believe his last major attack on a plan was in Ohio in 2021, and I did a special report in 2023 that tried to really expose his shenanigans as well as cover both the Ohio State Auditor’s examination of his so-called “forensic audit” as well as the Ohio Teachers Plan’s review. I included, where I thought it was appropriate, other activities by Siedle in Florida and elsewhere. At the time I wrote this, both NCPERS and the National Public Pension Coalition (NPPC) were also looking at him. I will see what I can find if they dug up anything you can use.

The folks who are hiring Siedle need to understand that all they will get for their money is a big pile of his opinions, which are not worth much more than the paper they are written on. Also, he simply lies about plans’ cooperation with him and about what he thinks they are up to. He has made millions on his whistle-blowing gig, and he can afford to do these investigations without the $5 and $10 dollar contributions of public pension retirees!! They can read his Ohio “audit” and the one he did of the Jacksonville FL Police and Fire Plan and save their money. I guarantee the one he does of your plan will look just the same!! (emphasis added)

Good luck, Jay! Please let me know if there is anything else I can do to help!

 •  Organizing Zoom Meetings to Oppose National “Movement” for Transparency and Accountability Reforms

Prior to commencement of the Minnesota investigation, state officials and their industry allies at NCTR and NCPERS organized Zoom meetings with pension officials in other states, including New York, California, Ohio, and Rhode Island opposed to the “movement” for participant-initiated forensic investigations to improve transparency and accountability. NRTA and the powerful NEA teachers union reportedly wrote “a generic education piece that can be used by national organizations to hopefully “inoculate” retirees” against forensic reviews of their pensions.
It seems the biggest threat to the integrity of public pensions nationally at that moment in time was truth-seeking, participant-funded, independent expert forensic investigations that state officials could not control.

It seems the biggest threat to the integrity of public pensions nationally at that moment in time was truth-seeking, participant-funded, independent expert forensic investigations that state officials could not control.

In another revealing March 19th email from Snell to Stoffel:

Thanks, Jay. Glad it helped. Hank Kim also hosted a Zoom call yesterday concerning “opposition research” on Siedle, and I will be working with NRTA and NEA on a generic education piece that can be used by national organizations to hopefully “inoculate” retirees to Ted’s pitch when he comes calling. At this point, the plan is to be pretty generic, and we may not even mention his name but perhaps refer to “forensic audits” and other such “plan research.” I realize that won’t really help you, but it may help other plans down the road.

As for a letter to you, would you mind sharing the media inquiry you received as it may give me an idea of what the press is seizing on that we may want to be sure to address. Also, can you give me an idea as to how you plan to use an NCTR letter? Widely distributed to your membership and the press? Targeted use with policymakers? Both? Finally, should it be addressed to you or to your Board? Or both? I need to finish up my FYI for this week, and I have a planning call tomorrow for my upcoming webinar on A.I. next week. However, I plan to start on a letter tomorrow and hopefully get something to you by the end of the week.
Hang in there!!

On March 24th, Jill Schurtz, Chief Investment Officer of SBI, asked NCTR’s Snell for assistance intervening with certain reporters she had learned (from spying on the Minnesota Educators For Pension Reform Facebook Group) were already talking with Group members. Schurtz wrote:

The four TRA members who raised funds for the Ted Seidel engagement posted the update below to their Facebook page. Of particular note, they state that they will be speaking with a reporter from P&I online on Monday. I was wondering if it would make sense to provide background information to P&I? I’m guessing you may have the right contacts?
Would appreciate any guidance you could share.

 On March 25th, NCTR’s Snell rescued Schurtz at SBI by contacting reporters at the trade publication Pensions & Investments. Snell also brought a third industry organization, the National Association of State Retirement Administrators, in on the media-shaping effort:

The ball is rolling. I have connected with Erin, who wants to talk tomorrow AM. I shared my “Special Report” (see attached) on Ted from last year with her for background purposes only. All I intend to do is make sure Erin understands what he has done in the past, and it will all be “on background.” Don’t plan to really discuss TRA issues and will defer to you guys on that if that works for you. I have also talked with my friend Hazel Bradford with P&I, who has also reached out to Erin and warned her she needs background before talking with Ted. I have also asked Keith Brainard with NASRA if he wants to join the call with Erin.
Hope this works with all of you.

To which Schurtz responded:

Leigh - that sounds like a good idea. Before we speak with P and I, all the MN folks on this email will connect in the morning (we’re all at the same LCPR meeting) to make sure we’re on the same page with taking this step.

Very grateful for your support!

Schurtz and Leigh’s intervention between Pensions & Investments reporters and Facebook Group members has been successful to date. Despite a lengthy interview and request for photographs of Facebook Group organizers, since March the trade publication has not written any article about the newsworthy participant-funded investigation. On the other hand, this month Schurtz was named an honoree in Pensions & Investments’ 2024 Influential Women in Institutional Investing program. Lemons turned to lemonade.

Public pension stakeholders need to understand how NCTR and NCPERS profit from state and local funds, their secret agendas and dirty tricks used to undermine transparency and accountability reforms. Anyone interested in public fund reform initiatives should learn more about the role these secretive organizations play.

Read this article online here.