A report summarizing the required fiduciary audit of the Ohio Police & Fire Pension Fund (OP&F) has been released by the Ohio Retirement Study Council (ORSC). The report shows that “The OP&F Board appears to have acted with loyalty and impartiality solely in the interests of current and future members and beneficiaries.”
The audit was conducted by Funston Advisory Services, LLC who was hired by the ORSC. A fiduciary audit of each of Ohio’s five public pension systems is required every 10 years. OP&F is responsible for the cost of the audit, which was in excess of $600,000.
“The OP&F Board and staff are happy to confirm our successes and for the opportunity to improve and strengthen areas mentioned in the audit report,” said OP&F Executive Director Mary Beth Foley. “OP&F has established a financially sound pension fund, administered within the requirements established by the General Assembly in the Ohio Revised Code. Our disability, financial and investment portfolio management programs are routinely recognized for excellence.”
“We will share this report with legislators,” Foley continued. ”It is my hope that this gives them the confidence to use House Bill 512 to correct the unequal and insufficient funding provisions. After nearly 40 years, it is time to revisit and properly fund public safety retirement benefits.”
Among the observations that Funston reported in their audit report:
Beyond the required fiduciary performance audit, the 238-page report also includes some operational recommendations for improvement that will be evaluated by the OP&F Board. The full report can be found at: https://orsc.org/Assets/Reports/1509.pdf
Posted 8/08/2022