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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Fire Pension 050615PALM BEACH GARDENS FIREFIGHTERS’ PENSION FUND MINUTES OF MEETING HELD MAY 6, 2015 A meeting of the Board of Trustees was called to order at 1:09PM at Council Chambers, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Those persons present were: TRUSTEES OTHERS Rick Rhodes, Chair Audrey Ross, Administrator Martin Cohen, Vice Chair Dan Johnson, Investment Consultant Tom Murphy, Secretary Pedro Herrera, Attorney Ed Morejon PUBLIC COMMENTS N/A INVESTMENT MONITOR REPORT: THE BOGDAHN GROUP (DAN JOHNSON) Mr. Johnson briefly reviewed the market environment during the quarter ending March 31, 2015 and noted that energy, financials, and utilities were the worst performing sectors. The fund is now up to $73.1M in assets and continues to steadily grow. Mr. Johnson stated that during the quarter the Plan transferred out the remaining assets from the Manning & Napier account to the Europacific Fund, and also moved some cash out of the R&D account (cash account) to be invested. He noted that he does not have any recommendations for rebalancing at this time. For the quarter to date return as of March 31, 2015 the Plan was up 3.08% versus the index at 1.84%, and for the fiscal year to date they Plan is up 6.65%. Mr. Johnson briefly reviewed each Managers performance during the quarter and noted that the Real Estate numbers are not final yet. All the Managers outperformed their indexes for the quarter and the timing of the transition from Manning & Napier to Europacific was perfect because Manning & Napier was actually negative for the quarter ending March 31, 2015. Mr. Johnson stated that he would to invite Dana Advisors to the next meeting for an update as it has been a while since the Board has meet with them. The Trustees concurred. Mr. Cohen asked Mr. Johnson if he is comfortable with the allocation between the equities and the fixed income. Mr. Johnson stated that he is comfortable with the equity weighting although it is a little more aggressive and the same for the fixed income even though it is a little less compared to their peers. Although Mr. Johnson commented that this is a conversation that the Board should have again in the near future as interest rates rise. Mr. Johnson reviewed the flash performance report as of April 30, 2015. For the month of April the fund is slightly down at -0.23%, but for the fiscal year they are still up 6.50%. Domestic equity and domestic fixed income slightly took a hit during the month, but it is only the first month of the new quarter. Mr. Johnson briefly reviewed that the ICMA DROP account report as of March 31, 2015. He noted that a majority of the DROP money is in the Vanguard Pus Fund. 2 Lastly Mr. Johnson noted that ICMA sent a letter confirming that the Plan’s DROP accounts that are invested with them are classified as a defined benefit plan and not a defined contribution plan, and therefore this fund is now on ICMA’s special handling list. MINUTES The Board reviewed the minutes of the regular meeting held on March 9, 2015. A motion was made by Marty Cohen to approve the minutes of the March 6, 2015 regular meeting as amended. The motion was seconded by Tom Murphy and carried 4-0. ATTORNEY REPORT: SUGERMAN & SUSSKIND (PEDRO HERRERA) Mr. Herrera reviewed his memo regarding the IRS issuing a new guidance on applying 415 limits to DROP accounts. He explained that the IRS has made a ruling and they do consider DROP accounts as a defined benefit plan and not a 401K account. Mr. Herrera reviewed 3 Bills that have been passed during this year’s Legislative session that affect Chapter 175/185 Plans and now they are just waiting for the Governor to sign them. He briefly reviewed what changes that SB172, SB2016 & HB1309 propose and commented that once the Bills are signed by the Governor, then his office will issue a memo to the Board explaining what actions they need to take. Mr. Herrera commented that the IRS determination letter is still pending as they have not heard anything back as of yet. Mr. Herrera noted that the Division of Retirement School is coming up in June in Tallahassee and also the FPPTA annual conference is in Boca this year in July. 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 Marty Cohen and carried 4-0. BENEFIT APPROVALS The Board reviewed the application for distributions from Share account for Mike Dunaway and the application to enter the DROP for Mark Petruzzi. A motion was made by Ed Morejon to approve the application for distributions from Share accounts for Mike Dunaway and the application to enter the DROP for Mark Petruzzi. The motion was seconded by Marty Cohen and carried 4-0. Ms. Ross stated that the Plan’s Fiduciary Liability Insurance was renewed for 2015/2016 in between meetings per the Chairman’s authorization so that the policy did not expire. Therefore the Board needs to ratify the policy now. 3 A motion was made by Marty Cohen to approve the 2015/2016 Fiduciary Liability Insurance Renewal Policy. The motion was seconded by Tom Murphy and carried 4-0. Ms. Ross reminded the Trustees that their annual Form 1 Disclosure form is due July 1, 2015. NEW BUSINESS N/A OLD BUSINESS N/A OTHER BUSINESS Ms. Ross notified the Board that they need to reschedule their September 7, 2015 meeting because the City Hall is not available. The Trustees discussed and noted that they meet in July and August so they don’t see a need right now to hold the September meeting, unless an urgent matter arises. A motion was made by Ed Morejon to cancel the September 7, 2015 meeting. The motion was seconded by Tom Murphy and carried 3-1. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:05PM. Respectfully submitted, Tom Murphy, Secretary