Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
To the Shareholders
and Board of Trustees of Touchstone Strategic Trust
In planning and performing our audit of the financial statements of Touchstone Strategic Trust (the Trust) as of and for the year ended December 31, 2018, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), we considered the Trust’s internal control over financial reporting, including controls over safeguarding securities, as a basis for designing our auditing procedures for the purpose of expressing our opinion on the financial statements and to comply with the requirements of Form N-CEN, but not for the purpose of expressing an opinion on the effectiveness of the Trust’s internal control over financial reporting. Accordingly, we express no such opinion.
The management of the Trust is responsible for establishing and maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting. In fulfilling this responsibility, estimates and judgments by management are required to assess the expected benefits and related costs of controls. A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use or disposition of a company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.
Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.
A deficiency in internal control over financial reporting exists when the design or operation of a control does not allow management or employees, in the normal course of performing their assigned functions, to prevent or detect misstatements on a timely basis. A material weakness is a deficiency, or a combination of deficiencies, in internal control over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of the company’s annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected on a timely basis.
Our consideration of the Trust’s internal control over financial reporting was for the limited purpose described in the first paragraph and would not necessarily disclose all deficiencies in internal control that might be material weaknesses under standards established by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). However, we noted no deficiencies in the Trust’s internal control over financial reporting and its operation, including controls over safeguarding securities, that we consider to be a material weakness as defined above as of December 31, 2018.
This report is intended solely for the information and use of management and the Board of Trustees of Touchstone Strategic Trust and the Securities and Exchange Commission and is not intended to be and should not be used by anyone other than these specified parties.
/s/ Ernst & Young LLP
Cincinnati, Ohio
February 19, 2019
Annual CCO Certification Pursuant to Form N-CEN(1)
In regard to the interfund lending program, I certify that the Companies and Touchstone Advisors have established procedures reasonably designed to achieve compliance with the terms and conditions of the exemptive order issued by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which are designed to achieve the following objectives: (a) that the Interfund Loan Rate will be higher than the Repo Rate, but lower than the Bank Loan Rate and, if applicable, the yield of the money market funds; (b) compliance with the collateral requirements as set forth in the Application; (c) compliance with the percentage limitations on interfund borrowing and lending; (d) allocation of interfund borrowing and lending demand in an equitable manner and in accordance with procedures established by the Board of each Fund; and (e) that the Interfund Loan Rate does not exceed the interest rate on any third-party borrowings of a borrowing Fund at the time of the Interfund Loan.
/s/ Timothy S. Stearns
Timothy S. Stearns
Chief Compliance Officer
Touchstone Family of Funds
February 19, 2019
| (1) | Certain capitalized terms used in this certification have the meanings given to them in the Companies’ and Touchstone Advisors’ joint exemptive application filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission on February 11, 2016, as amended on July 11, 2016 and January 26, 2017. |