COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) – The executive director of the Ohio Retired Teachers Association is speaking out after the State Teachers Retirement System (STRS) lost tens of millions of dollars in the collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
In a statement, STRS said it had $27 million invested in the now-defunct bank, about .03% of STRS’s total fund.
Dr. Robin Rayfield, executive director of the Ohio Retired Teachers Association, said this is just the latest in a series of losses that have left retired educators frustrated and angry with the way their pension money has been invested.
“Our position is we ought not to be in hedge funds, in private equities,” Rayfield said. “We ought to have our money invested in safe indexes, but instead, our pension system pays people to gamble with our money, and they always lose.”
Rayfield said the association will be demanding answers and change from STRS. Meanwhile, Ohio Sen. Sherrod Brown said the Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs Committee will hold a hearing on the bank’s failure.
