HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Fire Pension 080614PALM BEACH GARDENS FIREFIGHTERS’ PENSION FUND
MINUTES OF MEETING HELD
AUGUST 6, 2014
A meeting of the Board of Trustees was called to order at 1:05PM at Council Chambers,
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Those persons present were:
TRUSTEES OTHERS
Rick Rhodes, Chair Audrey Ross, Administrator
Martin Cohen, Vice Chair Pedro Herrera, Attorney
Tom Murphy, Secretary Troy Brown, Investment Consultant
Mark Joyce Jon Carrier, PBG Firefighter (active)
PUBLIC COMMENTS
N/A
MINUTES
The Board reviewed the minutes of the regular meeting held on July 7, 2014.
A motion was made by Martin Cohen to approve the minutes of the July 7, 2014
regular meeting. The motion was seconded by Mark Joyce and carried 4-0.
INVESTMENT MONITOR REPORT: THE BOGDAHN GROUP (TROY
BROWN)
Mr. Brown notified the Board that ICMA is all set up and the members that elected the
self-directed DROP account with ICMA are all enrolled.
Mr. Brown reviewed the performance report as of June 30, 2014. He noted that the
Plan’s allocation to real estate in still underweighted, but they do have another capital call
of $500K on August 18, 2014 that will bring up the allocation target. For the quarter the
total fund was slightly under the index at 3.79% versus 3.96% net of fees, but for the
fiscal year they are ahead at 13.33% net of fees versus the index at 12.51%. Mr. Brown
briefly reviewed each manager’s performance and commented that all the manager’s
outperformed with the exception of the international equity managers. Overall the fund is
taking less risk but getting more a return for it as well. Mr. Brown stated that the
portfolio is very strong and doing very well and he does not have any recommendations
at this time for any rebalancing or in regards to any of the managers.
Lastly Mr. Brown briefly reviewed the July 31, 2014 flash performance report. He noted
that July was not the best month so far as the fund is down -1.8% for the month, but for
the fiscal year they are still up 11.1%. Mr. Brown stated that he still feels very
comfortable with how the portfolio is positioned and their assets are now up to $67.3M.
ATTORNEY REPORT: SUGERMAN & SUSSKIND (PEDRO HERRERA)
Mr. Herrera reviewed his memo regarding his opinion on the Chapter 175 money and
how it is paid out to the participants. He explained that the Plan would need to revise the
Ordinance in order to pay out the Share accounts in a more timely and reasonable
manner. The Trustees noted that they would like to work on revising the Ordinance, but
in the meantime the Board would like to make a reasonable interpretation and also have a
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policy surrounding it so that members are not waiting such a long time for a payment
from their accounts. The Trustees had a lengthy discussion.
A motion was made by Tom Murphy to interpret the “valuation date” in the
Ordinance under the Share accounting/payment section to be the date that the
Board reviews and approves the valuation at their pension meeting. The motion
was seconded by Martin Cohen and carried 4-0.
The Trustees also directed Mr. Herrera to draft some revised ordinance language to
reflect that when a member elects to take a distribution from their Share account, then it
will occur at the end of a quarter.
Mr. Herrera reminded the Trustees that their Form 1 Disclosures where due July 1, 2014.
Lastly Mr. Herrera notified the Trustees of the different upcoming Trustee educational
opportunities.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT: RESOURCE CENTERS (AUDREY ROSS)
DISBURSEMENTS
The Board reviewed the disbursements presented for approval by the Administrator.
A motion was made by Tom Murphy to approve the disbursements as presented by
the Administrator. The motion was seconded by Mark Joyce and carried 4-0.
BENEFIT APPROVALS
The Board reviewed the application for distribution of Share account for Shawn Reid and
the applications to exit the DROP for James Kreidler & Jerry Brown.
A motion was made by Tom Murphy to approve the application for distribution of
Share account for Shawn Reid and the applications to exit the DROP for James
Kreidler and Jerry Brown. The motion was seconded by Mark Joyce and carried 4-
0.
NEW BUSINESS
Mr. Murphy asked in general if someone can come after a member’s pension due to a
liability they may have or owe. Mr. Herrera stated that generally speaking someone
cannot sue you and go after your pension, as your pension with the City is only
susceptible to child support and alimony.
OLD BUSINESS
Ms. Ross stated that she received the responses from the Auditor RFP that was recently
issued and she put together a summary sheet that compares each firm’s size, location,
fees, etc. The Trustees had a lengthy discussion on the results.
A motion was made by Mark Joyce to hire Steven I. Gordon, CPA as the Plan’s
auditor effective with the September 30, 2014 financial statements, and to also
authorize the Plan’s Attorney to review the audit engagement letter and once
approved, the Chairman will execute. The motion was seconded by Tom Murphy
and carried 4-0.
OTHER BUSINESS
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The Trustees reviewed their Custodial services contract with Regions bank and noted
that they are pleased with the services and therefore do not wish to take any action right
now and will remain with Regions Bank as is.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 2:46PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Tom Murphy, Secretary