Ohio Teachers Pension Ordered To Release Investment Documents
Will Governor DeWine and his cronies comply with the Court's order, or continue to hide their shady investment schemes?
On May 6th, the Court of Appeals of Ohio (Tenth Appellate District) handed us a decisive victory in our long… long… longstanding battle for public records from the highly-secretive State Teachers Retirement System of Ohio.
Since early 2021, we have asked the $96 billion public pension to disclose to the public all contracts, including any private placement memoranda, offering documents and subscription agreements, between STRS and its investment managers. And for the last 4 years, the pension has fought to keep its shady investment dealings secret.
Ohio public record laws are suppose to ensure transparency regarding public monies. If the pension complies with the Court order, the public will finally be able to see any ugly secrets STRS has been fighting so hard to keep.
Better still, yesterday, the Court issued a writ of mandamus directing STRS to hand over the heretofore Top Secret, toxic documents. The Court adopted the magistrate’s prior decision—also in our favor—in its entirety and rejected STRS objections to that magistrate’s decision. So, all the state pension money that has been spent fighting disclosure to pension stakeholders, including participants and taxpayers, has been wasted.
When asked yesterday whether STRS will comply with the Court’s order or appeal, counsel for the beleaguered pension indicated it had not yet determined whether to continue the fight. STRS has 30 days to decide whether to appeal to the Supreme Court of Ohio.
If there’s nothing to hide, disclosure should always have been the appropriate response to concerned stakeholders. But, as participants and taxpayers have witnessed time and again, there’s nothing straightforward about STRS.
IF STRS does release these documents they will be redacted so much that they will look like a checkerboard!
When you feel like Sisyphus, one day the rock does start rolling down the hill and boy will it be fun when it picks up speed. Maybe people really do care about accountability. The first fight is the PPMs to protect the payment structure. Wouldn't it be nice to see competition in fees; starts with transparency. With the kind of budget these pensions manage, I don't know why they can't hire their own investment staffs. Would cost less than 1% of AUM.