Latest news with #STRS
Yahoo
11-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ohio retired teachers' pension fund hires new executive director
STRS Ohio meeting room. (Photo by Morgan Trau, WEWS.) The Ohio retired teachers' pension fund has hired a former pensions expert from North Carolina as its new executive director. Steven Toole, the previous head of the North Carolina Retirement Systems, will take over starting in mid-July. He grew up outside Columbus and went to Ohio State University, according to his candidate material records. 'My experience extends to working closely with boards and stakeholders to ensure transparency, accountability, and integrity — values central to State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) Ohio's guiding principles,' Toole wrote in a letter to a recruiter. Currently, he works as a senior product manager at Principal, a retirement and investment company. He also gets some income from Home Depot, according to an ethics filing. While working at the North Carolina retirement system, he managed a $100 billion pension system and $11.8 billion in defined contribution assets, serving approximately 1 million public employees, according to his candidate documents. He worked as the executive director of the North Carolina system from 2011 to 2019, when he was fired, the records request shows. According to Toole, in an email he sent to recruiter Dan Cummings, he stated that there were 'no performance issues at all,' and he didn't receive an explanation from the state treasurer as to why he was being removed. Cummings told a board member that the former North Carolina Treasurer Dale Folwell replaced Toole when he came into office, emails show. The candidate document shows that he was replaced with Folwell's 'hand-chosen successor.' However, Toole was replaced two years into the treasurer's term. Once this was brought up by a board member, according to emails, the new STRS head suggested that the reason may be related to the treasurer's 'cost-cutting platform.' More records are pending from the North Carolina Treasurer's Office. Following being let go from the North Carolina system, Toole then worked for Prudential Retirement. This was later bought out by another company, and his job was 'eliminated,' according to the documents. He worked in retirement benefits for nearly three decades at Nationwide Insurance before joining the North Carolina team, the documents show. His hiring comes after a year of controversy, during which the STRS board chair and one of the former board members were accused of participating in a $65 billion corruption scheme. The chair, Rudy Fichtenbaum, denies all allegations, and some retired educators are accusing Ohio Statehouse Republicans of trying to stop transparency. 'The high scrutiny and media attention surrounding STRS Ohio over the past eighteen months do not give me pause — rather, I see it as an opportunity to step into a leadership role, bring clarity, and strengthen trust among members, legislators, and stakeholders,' Toole wrote in his candidate document. There are mainly two defined factions of the STRS population: 'reformers' and those who want to keep the 'status quo.' In short, reformers want to switch to index funding, while 'status quo' individuals want to keep actively managing the funds. Recent elections have allowed the reform-minded members to have a majority of the board. Fichtenbaum and all of the reformers on the board voted in support of Toole, while each of the status quo members, including appointees, voted against him. The vote ended up being 6-5. The current acting executive director, Aaron Hood, was also given his notice at the meeting. Follow WEWS statehouse reporter Morgan Trau on X and Facebook. SUBSCRIBE: GET THE MORNING HEADLINES DELIVERED TO YOUR INBOX SUPPORT: YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE
Yahoo
30-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Ohio lawmakers consider change to teacher pension fund
COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Ohio lawmakers are considering a sweeping change to the make up of Ohio's teacher pension fund that could force retirees and teachers off their own board. The State's Teachers Retirement System (STRS) has been embroiled in controversy of late, with retirees saying they've been denied promised cost of living increases while investment staff gets bonuses despite losing billions of dollars. Currently, a legislative subcommittee is reviewing pension boards around the country that could possibly change who sits on the STRS board. Over the past few years, teachers and retirees have worked to get 'reformers' elected to the board. These reformers won a majority of the seats of the 11-member board but retirees said multiple Ohio government officials are working to strip their power away. 'Everybody gets rich at STRS, our consultants get rich. Our investors get rich, our STRS management get rich,' said Robin Rayfield, the CEO of the Ohio Retirement for Teachers Association. 'The only people who don't get rich are the people who put the money in, and that is the teachers.' A manual outlining benefits was given to tens of thousands of Ohio teachers when they were hired, which says they are promised pension with a cost of living increase of 3% annually. Nearly a decade ago, STRS took that away and since 2020, retirees said they have lost 23% of their buying power. 'So we have teachers that are, you know, trying to live on 40, $50,000 I mean, they have roofs on their house that need to be replaced. They need to buy cars. I mean, how do you have an investment like that?' said Dean Dennis of a retiree watchdog group. FTC, FBI issue warnings about 'deals' that sound too good to be true This watchdog group has worked to get reformers elected that demand investment transparency and an end to lavish bonuses for investment staff members. Some of these bonuses are as high as $300,000. The group said they are receiving push back, first from Gov. Mike DeWine. A board member Wade Steen was previously kicked from the board by Gov. DeWine, before appointing G. Brent Bishop to replace him. But at the beginning of 2024, an appeals court determined DeWine overstepped his authority in removing Steen from the position. The governor called for an investigation into the board, claiming there is a hostile takeover by private interests at STRS. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost obliged, and called for the removal of Steen and Rudy Fichtenbaum from the board in May of 2024. Retirees said Steen and Fichtenbaum were targeted because they backed reform. 'The people that we have elected want the most basic, simple things. They want transparency and accountability,' said Dennis. 'That's all we're looking for, because without accountability and transparency, you can't fix a broken pension system.' The Republican controlled Ohio Retirement Study Council is looking into changes to the make-up of the board. Rep. Sean Brennan (D-Parma), a retired teacher, serves on the bipartisan legislative subcommittee and is keeping an open mind. 'I've always believed in looking for best practices,' said Brennan. 'So if there is something that we could be doing in Ohio that's better than what we're doing now, then why not take a look at it? And as retirees, we paid in and have very much a vested interest in the future of the system. And I think we we are required to have a voice, and entitled to a voice.' Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Stratus Properties: Q1 Earnings Snapshot
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Stratus Properties Inc. (STRS) on Thursday reported a loss of $2.9 million in its first quarter. On a per-share basis, the Austin, Texas-based company said it had a loss of 36 cents. The real estate company posted revenue of $5 million in the period. _____ This story was generated by Automated Insights ( using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on STRS at
Washington Post
15-05-2025
- Business
- Washington Post
Stratus Properties: Q1 Earnings Snapshot
AUSTIN, Texas — AUSTIN, Texas — Stratus Properties Inc. (STRS) on Thursday reported a loss of $2.9 million in its first quarter. On a per-share basis, the Austin, Texas-based company said it had a loss of 36 cents. The real estate company posted revenue of $5 million in the period. _____ This story was generated by Automated Insights ( using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on STRS at
Yahoo
15-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Stratus Properties: Q1 Earnings Snapshot
AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — AUSTIN, Texas (AP) — Stratus Properties Inc. (STRS) on Thursday reported a loss of $2.9 million in its first quarter. On a per-share basis, the Austin, Texas-based company said it had a loss of 36 cents. The real estate company posted revenue of $5 million in the period. _____ This story was generated by Automated Insights ( using data from Zacks Investment Research. Access a Zacks stock report on STRS at Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
