 Author Chris Tobe will begin his first political run for Auditor on Tuesday.
Chris Tobe, noted pension expert and a former senior staff member for former State Auditor Ed Hatchett, is entering the race for Kentucky State Auditor. Tobe will file at the Secretary of State's office at 9:15 AM on Tuesday, January 15.
The office of state auditor is currently held by Republican Mike Harmon.
Statement of candidate Chris Tobe:
"Kentucky Taxpayers need a tough auditor, not a nice auditor. One who is strong and willing to take on Governors of both parties and not be weak and afraid of taking on corruption at every level. An auditor with a deep financial & accounting background is crucial to address the severe & complex financial challenges of the Commonwealth.
Twenty two years ago, I was hired out of the private sector to work for Kentucky State Auditor Ed Hatchett on Kentucky Pensions. I have been the leading independent expert on Kentucky Pensions since and have been active on legislation to improve transparency & accountability. It was my suggestion in 2013 that led to legislation that the KY State Auditor be required to do an audit of the major systems every 5 years, because of superficial outside audits.
My expectation from the Auditor's office was a tough thorough audit, not another whitewash. To my horror, the quietly released KRS audit by Mike Harmon during the holidays (Dec.19) seems to be just another partisan whitewash with minimal impact. It conveniently missed an illegal investment chairman making illegal investments who happens to have given the Governor a good deal on a mansion. My first action as the new Auditor in January 2020 would be to do an updated tough thorough audit of KRS to replace the weak work of Auditor Harmon.
In April 2018 I became the founding Chairman of RepresentUS Kentucky an Anti-Corruption group which has on its board Kentuckian Jennifer Lawrence. The group nationwide has won numerous anti-corruption ballot initiatives. Since KY does not allow ballot initiatives, we support legislation like HB126 on pension transparency. However, as auditor I can have immediate impact on transparency & accountability not only for pensions but across government. While I am not happy
with overall transparency with my church, I was inspired by the Pope's May 2018 piece on Transparency which specifically referenced secret off-shore investments which plague our pensions & university endowments.
Kentucky needs a strong qualified Auditor."
About the candidate:
Chris Tobe, CFA and his wife Lisa Scott Tobe a Nurse Practitioner with the Neurosurgery unit at the U of L Trauma Center reside in Anchorage.Together they have 6 children and are members of the Catholic Church of the Epiphany.
Mr. Tobe spent nearly 3 years as Senior executive staff for Ky Auditor Ed Hatchett (97-99) and was involved in their work on State Audits, County & Local Audits, & Performance audits. His major project was a 40-page report on the investments of both Kentucky Retirement Systems & Kentucky Teachers Retirement Systems His other projects include reviewing the States $3 billion Cash pool and 8 public university endowments & related foundations. Because of his expertise, he was appointed in 2008 and served a 4-year term as Trustee for the Kentucky Retirement Systems & was a member of the Investment and Audit Committees.
He holds a BA in Economics from Tulane University, and an MBA in Finance & Accounting from Indiana University - Bloomington. He has the taught the MBA investment course at the University of Louisville and finance and accounting classes at Bellarmine and Webster. As a public pension trustee, he completed the Program for Advanced Trustee Studies at Harvard Law School and Fiduciary College held at the Stanford University.
Chris is a pension investment consultant, expert witness, and author. His book "Kentucky Fried Pensions 2018" is over 500 pages and is a follow up to Kentucky Fried Pensions 2013. and he recently appeared in the PBS Frontline KY pension piece airing October 2018.
He was hired in 2016 by the internal auditor of the $40 billion Maryland Pension to review complex investments. In 2015 he was hired by the Utah Legislative Auditor to review their $30 billion plan's hedge funds. From 2008-2009 he was a Sr. Consultant with New England Pension Consultants and worked with a number of public pension plans in Oklahoma, Missouri, Michigan and the District of Columbia. Former VP in 401k investments with AEGON 2001-2008. From 1999-2001 he was an investment consultant to University foundations and endowments at Purdue U., Indiana State, U. of Memphis, Creighton U. From 1986-1997
he worked primarily as a Trust Investment Officer in Louisville area banks. In 1984 he served on the staff of Congressman Lee Hamilton & was an intern to the Joint Economic Committee of Congress.
Chris is the Kentucky Chair for Represent US a non-partisan Transparency and Anti-Corruption group. He also serves on the International London based Transparency Taskforce which strives for global transparency in investments. Chris serves as an assistant coach in Special Olympics and he and his wife Lisa are both currently involved in FEAT (Families for Effective Autism Treatment). Chris until recently served as a Boy Scout Leader for the Anchorage Troop for 4 years. He serves on the Investment Committee of the Delta Tau Delta Educational Foundation and as the Treasurer of COPES a Non-Profit Drug prevention education organization in Louisville. He is active with the Social Responsibility group of the Catholic Church of the Epiphany. He has served as the President of the CFA Society of Louisville.
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