Thursday, June 29, 6000
Tuesday, February 15, 4000
STRS Ohio Watchdogs: a public Facebook group you can join
Sunday, August 27, 3950
Have you joined the Ohio STRS Member Only Forum on Facebook?
Click image to enlarge
Monday, June 25, 3900
Monday, June 24, 3850
Wednesday, May 28, 3800
Friday, February 27, 3750
Sunday, April 11, 3700
Thursday, March 10, 3650
Friday, February 24, 3550
Monday, April 29, 3450
I know, it's weird.........
Monday, February 24, 3400
This is an abbreviated version of the original 'Handy links' post. Click here to view a more complete list. (Some of it is old.)
State legislators.......State of Ohio website
Tuesday, February 24, 3350
Dennis Leone's STRS Report to ORTA, March 2007
Tuesday, February 23, 3300
Friday, November 01, 2024
International Investor: Ohio Teachers’ Outgoing Executive Director Defends Fund’s Position After Months of Turmoil
Ohio Teachers’ Outgoing Executive Director Defends Fund’s Position After Months of Turmoil
James Comtois
October 31, 2024
After months of controversy, the Ohio State Teachers Retirement System could be turning a corner. At least, according to its outgoing executive director Lynn Hoover, who said that the “fund is going in the right direction.”
“Alternatives have returned more than a passive mix. You need qualified staff to support alternatives,” Nesbitt said. “You can’t index alternatives.”
Thursday, October 31, 2024
Toledo Blade: The STRS board has no more important mission than to implement policies that make it clear the fortunes of the staff and the beneficiaries are linked.
October 31, 2024
Editorial: Bonus for beneficiaries
Bonuses have a bad name with retirees of the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio, but not when the benefits finally swing their way.
The STRS board approved a supplemental benefit that will add $1,720 to the average retired teacher’s pension for 2024. (“Retired Ohio teachers to get 1-time benefit,” Oct. 18.)
The cost to the pension system is $306 million. That leaves $572 million available for the STRS board to implement a permanent cost-of-living adjustment.
The STRS board will make that decision next spring.
There has been no bigger disconnect between STRS retirees and STRS staff than the lack of COLAs for beneficiaries while the pension investment staff routinely collects annual bonuses for performance measured against benchmarks below market returns.
STRS is quick to remind retirees the extra income they’ll receive this year is not guaranteed to last. The same conditions extend to the staff bonuses that often add six-figure sums to the pay of STRS investment staffers.
It’s unlikely that the STRS board will bring back the annual COLA when they are in the midst of a years-long effort to convince the General Assembly to raise the taxpayer contribution to the pension by 28.5 percent.
Paying a permanent COLA doesn’t fit the narrative of a fund in need of a large bailout from taxpayers. But paying staff lavish bonuses, even in a year the fund lost $5 billion, is just as politically foolish.
The STRS board should formally link supplemental payments to retirees with bonuses for the investment staff. In a year without an income boost for pension beneficiaries, there can be no bonus paid to investment staff, a policy that would calm the waters at STRS.
Angry teachers have been rightfully convinced the STRS staff actively works against their interests for personal benefit. If the board connects bonuses to supplemental benefits the interests of staff and retirees will harmonize.
The distrust of STRS staff by STRS retirees and the reform board members they have elected will surely be a factor in the nationwide search for a new executive director and chief investment officer.
The STRS board has no more important mission than to implement policies that make it clear the fortunes of the staff and the beneficiaries are linked.
Read the article online here.
Monday, October 28, 2024
Columbus Disparch: Is there a conspiracy at the state teachers' pension fund? Former board member thinks so
Is there a conspiracy at the state teachers' pension fund? Former board member thinks so
Columbus Dispatch
October 28, 2024
By Laura Bischoff
A former teachers' pension board member is suing two other former board members, alleging they are part of a "civil conspiracy" that stymied his quest to investigate the retirement system's failings.
It's the latest twist in a long-running drama over who controls the 11-member board for the State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio.
Former board member Wade Steen filed a lawsuit in Franklin County Common Pleas Court last week against Brent Bishop and Brian Perera. Gov. Mike DeWine reappointed Steen as an investment expert in November 2020. But in May 2023, he removed Steen and appointed Bishop. When Bishop resigned, DeWine put Perera on the board.
Steen waged a successful legal fight to return to the board in April 2024 but his term expired in September.
Steen paints himself as an investigator, seeking answers as to why STRS's investment returns fell short and the system couldn't pay out consistent cost of living adjustments for retired teachers.
His removal from the board came in the midst of his investigation and on the cusp of Steen gaining a majority of votes on the board, according to his new lawsuit
In his new lawsuit, Steen alleges that Perera, Bishop, STRS staff, the governor's office and the attorney general's office conspired against him.
Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost filed a lawsuit against Steen and STRS Board Chairman Rudy Fichtenbaum, alleging the two violated their fiduciary responsibility to the pension fund.
The STRS board oversees roughly $95 billion invested on behalf of 500,000 current and former teachers. It is one of five public pension systems in Ohio.
In his lawsuit against Bishop and Perera, Steen wants more than $50,000 for emotional distress, reputation damage, foregone expense reimbursements and attorney fees.
An outside lobbying group covered $114,000 in legal fees for Steen and Fichtenbaum. The payments could conflict with state ethics laws.
The STRS board has faced infighting and turmoil over the past few years. Retirees are angry over the elimination of cost-of-living allowances, a perceived lack of transparency and the payment of bonuses to pension investment staff despite investment losses.
The turmoil contributed to a $1.65 million exit package for former STRS director Bill Neville, a decision to retire by interim director Lynn Hoover and a decision to retire by chief investment officer Matt Worley.
Read this story online here.
Sunday, October 27, 2024
Lima News/Newsbreak: STRS plans one-time inflation payouts to retirees
Lima News
October 25, 2024
By Mackenzi Klemann,3 days ago
STRS plans one-time inflation payouts to retirees
LIMA — The State Teachers Retirement System will distribute one-time supplemental benefits to retirees in December as inflation relief, the pension fund’s acting executive director said during a town hall in Lima on Wednesday.
The STRS board approved the one-time supplemental payments during its October meeting to assist retirees with “inflation and the economic realities that are affecting many of us,” said Lynn Hoover, acting executive director and chief financial officer.
The $94 billion pension fund, whose 545,000 members include 156,000 retirees and 174,000 teachers currently paying into the system, is in turmoil amid resignations and a lawsuit from Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost.
Hoover visited the Lima Public Library on Wednesday to reassure retirees and teachers their pensions are “safe and secure.”
“Your monthly pension will hit your account every month,” she said. “Our plan is better off than we’ve been in some time.”
Retirees who started receiving benefits from the STRS in or prior to January should receive a one-time supplemental payment by mid-December.
Benefits will be calculated at an estimated rate of $40 per year of service and each full year of retirement, Hoover said.
STRS will notify eligible retirees next month.
Retirees have not received a cost-of-living adjustment since the STRS board approved a 1% adjustment in May 2023. The board approved a 3% cost-of-living adjustment and lowered the retirement age in March 2022.
Members may now collect reduced benefits after 29 years of service and full benefits after 34 years.
The STRS board will consider another cost-of-living raise next spring, Hoover said when asked if the one-time inflation payments will replace a cost-of-living adjustment this year.
Hoover said the supplemental benefits have a shorter waiting period than cost-of-living adjustments, and payouts are greater for retirees who have been out of the workforce the longest.
Read this article online here.
Saturday, October 26, 2024
Wade Steen fights back with Complaint with jury demand filed 10/24/2024; Plaintiff: Wade Steen; Defendants: Brent Bishop and Brian Perera
Friday, October 25, 2024
James Carr: 'In a perfect world.....'
By James Carr
Thursday, October 24, 2024
October 2024 Newsletter from ORTA
ORTA Newsletter
October 2024
From Executive Director Robin Rayfield
Greetings ORTA Members!
This month’s newsletter is slightly delayed as we wanted to include any news from the October STRS Board meeting.
STRS Update
Significant change is always chaotic. STRS has operated for decades in a fashion that has benefited the staff at STRS and, for the most part, ignored the members of STRS. Changing the culture towards protecting the membership has created chaos for the system. The politicians in Ohio point to ‘red flags’ increase the anxiety level about the pension system. The members of STRS (active and retirees) have demanded change in the way STRS operates. This is evidenced by the elections for seats on the STRS board. Despite calls from the membership for reform, the management at STRS has barreled down the pathway of overcompensating the STRS employees while reducing benefits to retirees and forcing actives to pay more and work longer. At the September STRS meeting one of the presentations included information on the lost purchasing power of STRS retirees. The data show that a person who retired in 2013 has lost 21% of their purchasing power since their retirement. Certainly, such a loss is nearly impossible to manage, however, when we consider that the salaries of STRS employees increased by 17% on average in one year, retirees are understandably outraged. This is truly a situation where the ‘Good for thee but not for me’ principal has surfaced. The STRS board has challenged the management decisions at STRS with increasing strength over the last several months. In fact, without the intervention of Ohio’s Attorney General Yost, the PBI (bonus) program would have been eliminated for the past year.
Additionally, the STRS board voted on a motion of ‘no confidence’ in the senior management team in September. Although the motion failed by a 5 to 5 vote with 1 abstention the message was clear. The senior management team did not have the support of the board at STRS. This prompted the acting executive director to announce her retirement. Ms. Hoover will leave STRS on December 1, 2024. Her departure, along with the negotiated departure of Executive Director Bill Neville leaves a void at the top of the STRS management team. STRS is beginning the search for a new Executive Director, and hopefully a new direction for the pension system. What is important to note is that the leadership team in place demonstrated that they were not capable of reforming the system. Decades of thwarting any efforts of reforming the system had broken the trust between the membership and the pension system. The STRS board was put in place by the membership and reflects the will of the membership for reform. Therefore, change was necessary. In other STRS leadership news, the Chief Investment Officer, Matt Worley, announced his retirement scheduled for March of 2025.
Politicians and media type people love to hype the narrative that the reform board members have created chaos at the STRS pension system. In the sense that chaos always accompanies real change this is a true statement. Most of us recall the 1960s as a time of change and we recall the chaos that accompanied the changes as a result of the civil rights movement. As educators we probably all used first-hand experiences to reinforce our lessons. Imagine where we might be if people didn’t stand up for a set of principles and endure the chaos that the changes of the civil rights movement triggered. ORTA is proud that we have established a foundation for change at STRS and that the decades upon decades of paying unearned bonuses, with zero accountability for investment staff or management staff can come to a close.
In other STRS news, Wade Steen’s term as a STRS board member has ended. STRS members are grateful for Wade’s efforts to reform the system. Jonathon A. Allison was appointed by Governor DeWine to replace Wade Steen. We have no idea about where Mr. Allison stands on the many issues that face STRS, but we are hopeful that he can work with the board to resolve the differences between the status quo board members and the reformers. We will report on Mr. Allison’s actions as an STRS board member.
In addition to Mr. Allison, another new person was appointed to the board. This change was made by Director of Workforce Development Steven Dackin and was the seat formerly appointed by the Superintendent of Ohio Schools. Caroline Everidge-Frey replaced Dr. Scott Hunt. ORTA welcomes these people to the STRS board and thanks them for their willingness to serve.
At the October 17, 2024, STRS board meeting the board passed a ‘one-time supplemental benefit enhancement’. This is a one-time payment that will be made in December of 2024 going to all retirees for this year only. The decision on COLA for the year has not been made; however, it is unlikely that retirees will receive this supplemental payment and a COLA this year.
There will be information coming from STRS on the amount of each person’s supplemental benefit. The formula takes into account years of service and the number of years a person has been retired. ORTA has always voiced preference for a COLA that would be a recurring payment each year instead of a one-time check such as this. While our preference is for a COLA, the supplemental check idea was supported by the board. Board members also voiced hope that the years of service for full retirement benefits can be reduced this year. The board worked very hard to develop a plan that provides some level of inflation protection for the current year while trying to reduce the burden on active educators. ORTA is appreciative of their efforts!
ORTA Board Meeting
In addition to the STRS meeting, the ORTA board met last week to review finances and approve the budget for 2025. ORTA remains in good financial shape. The pension defense fund expenditures were covered in detail. We plan to post these documents on the ORTA website.
Robin Rayfield, Executive Director ORTA/Ohio Retirement for Teachers Association