April Board News

Statement From Dale Price, Board Chair, State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio

(Issued following Thursday’s State Teachers Retirement Board meeting)

“During the lunch hour today, while the Retirement Board was in executive session, STRS Ohio was informed of the appeals court opinion reinstating Wade Steen to the Board. Counsel had not yet had the opportunity to review the opinion and consider its implications.

“The Board then resumed public session. When it became apparent that I was unable to conduct the meeting in an efficient and effective manner, I decided to conduct the necessary business and adjourn the meeting. I plan to have the Retirement Board consider the remaining items from today’s agenda at the regularly scheduled May Board meeting.”

Ohio Retirement Study Council Report Highlights Good Stewardship of STRS Ohio; Demonstrates Need for Employer Rate Increase

The Ohio Retirement Study Council (ORSC) recently released a report about the challenges and opportunities faced by Ohio’s five statewide public pension systems from 1998 to 2022. It was requested by council members due to the potential for several bills to come before the Ohio Legislature seeking an increase in employer contribution rates. The report was presented at the April 11 ORSC meeting and was followed by an opportunity for STRS Ohio staff to speak publicly about the need for the employer contribution rate increase. At the April meeting of the Retirement Board, Acting Executive Director Lynn Hoover referenced this report and will speak about it further at the May Retirement Board meeting. The full ORSC report and a recording of STRS Ohio’s presentation to the council are available on the STRS Ohio website.

Recommendations From Fiduciary Performance Audit Continue to be Reviewed and Implemented

In June of 2022, Funston Advisory Services presented findings from its independent fiduciary performance audit of STRS Ohio. The audit was commissioned by the ORSC and Funston was selected by the ORSC to perform the audit. At the April Board committee meetings, action was taken to move forward on the following Funston recommendations:

Board Committee Charters Reviewed; Chairs Elected

Funston recommended streamlining the committee structure of the board, leading to new and expanded board committees. The Governance, Audit, Investment and Legislative Committees met prior to the April Board meeting and reviewed the charters for each committee. Committee chairs were also elected — Rudy Fichtenbaum will chair the Audit Committee, Alison Lanza Falls will chair the Investment Committee and Scott Hunt will chair the Legislative Committee. The board chair, Dale Price, serves as chair of the Governance Committee.

Risk Management Procedure Updates Suggested

Board consultant Aon Fiduciary Services reviewed Funston’s recommendations for STRS Ohio’s enterprise risk management program, which outlines risks to STRS Ohio and the steps taken to mitigate them. Aon recommended that board and staff members continue to work together on the board’s strategic plan and discuss the implementation of a more systematic approach to risk management.

Results of the fiduciary audit were positive, saying that overall, STRS Ohio is operationally excellent with effective operational policies and processes and is a generally well-run, high performing operation. Many of the recommendations have been adopted and STRS Ohio will continue to review, implement and report on this process.

Retirements Approved

The Retirement Board approved 61 active members and 74 inactive members for service retirement benefits.