HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Fire Pension 020117PALM BEACH GARDENS FIREFIGHTERS’ PENSION FUND
MINUTES OF MEETING HELD
FEBRUARY 1, 2017
A meeting of the Board of Trustees was called to order at 1:02PM in the 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
Jon Currier (arrived 1:39pm/departed 3:35pm)
PUBLIC COMMENTS
N/A
Mr. Rhodes asked to amend the agenda and move the selection of the Chairman, Vice
Chair & Secretary be moved down on the agenda to “new business”.
Tom Murphy made a motion to amend the agenda to move the selection of the
Chairman, Vice Chair & Secretary down to “new business” . The motion was
seconded by Marty Cohen and it carried 4-0.
MINUTES
Mrs. Ross apologized on behalf of her firm as the minutes from the last meeting are not
available, as she did not attend the last meeting so therefore she is asking for them to be
tabled.
INVESTMENT MONITOR REPORT: ANDCO CONSULTING (DAN JOHNSON)
Mr. Johnson introduced his firms new name and explained the reasoning behind the
change and what the new name stands for. This change was effective January 1, 2017
and it was a name change only, no other changes to the firm or personal.
Mr. Johnson reviewed the December 31, 2016 quarterly performance report. He
discussed the market environment during the quarter and noted that the 10-year bonds did
increase, but they are only back to where they were a year ago. The Plan assets are up to
$85.3M and he reviewed the asset allocation by asset class and manager. He commented
that we are in line with the policy targets and that he does not have any recommendations
at this time for rebalancing. Mr. Johnson reviewed the plan’s financial reconciliation
during the quarter and noted that we started off with $80.6M and ended with $85.3M,
overall it was a great quarter. As of December 31, 2016 the fund was up 2.61% versus
the index at 1.25%. He briefly reviewed each managers performance and noted that we
had good downside protection from the bonds. Mr. Johnson stated that they will discuss
the Dana small and large cap funds a little bit later on in the meeting, but overall their
firm is not recommending Dana’s small cap strategy anymore. GHA is now looking at
longer terms, in regards to the bonds because of the recent interest rate hikes and Mr.
Johnson stated that he does not see any concerns with it. He did not that we can offer
GHA to change benchmarks if they think they will benefit from it more and explained
why they could. Mr. Rhodes stated that he does not think that is necessary now, but it
can be a conversation for the near future. Mr. Johnson discussed the Templeton Global
Bond fund. He explained that it was not doing well a couple of quarters ago, but this
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quarter things turned around and they had a strong outperformance. He still likes global
bonds and still likes Templeton’s strategy, but they will still keep a close eye on this fund
for the near future. The Board concurred.
Mr. Johnson reviewed the December 31, 2016 ICMA DROP report. He commented that
he does not have any recommendations or changes at this time.
Ms. Johnson briefly reviewed the Dana funds compared to other managers in the same
asset class. He stated that due to the length of this meeting, he will bring back more
material on this subject to the next meeting to be reviewed and some recommendations as
well.
Lastly, Mr. Cohen discussed the American Realty benchmark and how it is measured.
He stated that he does not agree with the one we are currently using.
ATTORNEY REPORT: SUGERMAN & SUSSKIND (PEDRO HERRERA)
Mr. Herrera stated that the Salem Trust custodial agreement is still being finalized,
although we are targeting for a mid-March transition. We will have more of an update at
the next meeting.
Mr. Herrera gave a brief update on the BankCorpSouth Litigation case. He stated that on
January 4, 2017 the parties went to mediation but an agreement was not reached.
Therefore, the case is still pending and Robbins Geller has offered to attend the next
Board meeting for an update. The Trustees stated that it was not necessary for them to
attend the next meeting since an agreement has not been reached as of yet. Mr. Herrera
commented that he will continue to update the Board as more information becomes
available.
Mr. Herrera noted that the addendum has been completed for the PRC contract, which
reflects their office taking over benefit payments and accounts payable as of January 1,
2017. Ms. Ross stated that the transition went well and all members were paid on
January 1, 217 without any interruption.
Mr. Herrera gave a brief update on the 3 Bills that have been filed during this Legislative
session that could affect 175/185 pension plans. He reminded the Trustees that all these
Bills are still pending as Legislative session is still in process and he will update the
Board as more information becomes available.
Mr. Herrera stated that there are some Trustee educational opportunities coming up such
as the fall FPPTA School, the Division of Retirement conference and the IFFA school.
Lastly, it was noted that Mr. Herrera’s firm, Sugarman & Susskind, has recently gained a
new client, the Jacksonville Retirement System, which is great news for their firm.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT: RESOURCE CENTERS (AUDREY ROSS)
DISBURSEMENTS
The Board reviewed the disbursements presented for approval by the Administrator. The
Board discussed the invoice from Ellen Schaffer who is PRC’s programmer. Mr. Rhodes
stated that in the PRC proposal and contract it does not state anything about a third party
programmer. Ms. Ross stated that PRC has a contract with this programmer as we had to
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use her services to initiate and setup the benefit payments and accounts payable into our
system from Regions Bank. This is a one-time fee but since the Board does not have a
contract with this third party administrator, then PRC will pay the invoice.
A motion was made by Tom Murphy to approve the disbursements as presented by
the Administrator with the exception of the Ellen Schaffer invoice in the amount of
$450.00. The motion was seconded by Jon Currier and carried 5-0.
BENEFIT APPROVALS
The Board reviewed the benefit approval list dated February 1, 2017 as presented by the
Administrator (applications to exit the DROP for Bill Schaneen and Anthony Vazquez).
A motion was made by Ed Morejon to approve the applications to exit the DROP
for Bill Schaneen and Anthony Vazquez. The motion was seconded by Tom
Murphy and carried 5-0.
The Board reviewed the 2017 COLA approval list for the retired members effective
January 1, 2017 that was prepare by Foster & Foster.
A motion was made by Tom Murphy to approve the 2017 COLA list for the retired
members as presented effective Januarys 1, 2017. The motion was seconded by Ed
Morejon and carried 5-0.
The Board reviewed the 2017 COLA approval list for the DROP members effective
January 1, 2017 that was prepare by Foster & Foster.
A motion was made by Jon Currier to approve the 2017 COLA list for the DROP
members as presented effective January 1, 2017. The motion was seconded by Ed
Morejon and carried 5-0.
FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
The Trustees reviewed the interim financial statement as of December 2016. Ms. Ross
explained that the Board will start seeing this financial statements each meeting now.
These statements track the Plan on a cash basis and the auditors will use this at the end of
the fiscal year for their statement as we reconcile the Plan each month.
The financial statements were received and filed as of December 31, 2016.
Ms. Ross presented the Board with a draft copy of the pension presentation that she
prepared for new hires and active members of the Plan. The Trustees made some
revisions and stated that we can use this for the most recent new hire group. In addition,
the Board discussed organizing some kind of benefit fair for over the summer so that all
active members can review their pension and other City benefits as well.
Ms. Ross stated that the election notice has been posted for Mr. Morejon’s seat, which
expired December 31, 2016. She apologized that the notice was not posted in time this
election period as she was out on maternity leave, but she will make sure this is noted so
that it does not happen again in the future. The nomination period ends at the end of this
month.
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OLD BUSINESS
Ms. Ross stated that the Board previously discussed crime insurance coverage and was
following up to see if they are still interested and if she should get more information on it.
The Trustees discussed and stated that they are not interested in it at this time as they
already have other types of coverages in place.
NEW BUSINESS
The Trustees had a discussion on historical data and who holds on to it. Ms. Ross stated
that as administrator, their office has all the Plan’s records and files and must hold onto
everything as they do not have any retention span for shredding. The Board wants
Regions Bank to send all historical data to Salem Trust during this custodial transition.
Ms. Ross commented that she will notify both parties of this request, although this
usually occurs during a transition anyways.
Ms. Ross stated that she recently received an application for a refund of contributions for
a vested member. She will be processing the refund per the member’s direction, but she
wanted to confirm with the Board that no other waiver or spousal consent has to be
signed off on prior to issuing the payment. The Trustees discussed the different
circumstances that could arise from a vested member cashing out and forfeiting his future
monthly pension, but they feel that the form/release that they have on file that the
member fills out and signs with a notary covers them legally if something were to arise.
The Trustees had a lengthy discussion on the forfeiture of pension benefits. Mr. Herrera
stated that there is a clause in the Plan and the State Law that state a member will forfeit
their pension benefits under certain circumstances that are listed, in regards to being
charged with certain crimes. Mr. Morejon stated that he just wanted to have this
documented as they did have a case in the City many years ago that could have been
affected by this law, although the member ended up resigning and electing to take cash
out. Mr. Morejon was curious to know if this member received interest on his
contributions when he terminated. Ms. Ross stated that she will get the information from
Mr. Morejon and will see what she can find on him.
The Trustees asked Ms. Ross to bring back the disability review to the next meeting as
they don’t think it has been issued in a couple of years.
Mr. Rhodes stated that he received an email from Foster a couple of weeks ago stating
that they were requesting information from the City and PRC and did not receive it right
away. Ms. Ross stated that she sent Foster everything they requested with the exception
of 2 reports back in mid-October before she went on maternity leave. Mr. Baur from her
office later forwarded Foster the two outstanding reports. She will check with Foster and
the City to see what other information is outstanding as of now.
Ms. Ross stated that the 12/31/2016 GHA report is uploaded to the drop box.
SELECTION OF CHAIRMAN, VICE CHAIR & SECRETARY
Ms. Ross stated that the Board needs to select a Chair, Vice Chair, and Secretary
according to their policy, as it is due every January but the Board canceled their meeting
last month due to a lack of a quorum.
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CHAIR
A motion was made by Ed Morejon to nominate Rick Rhodes as Chair. The motion
was seconded by Tom Murphy and carried 4-0.
Mr. Rhodes accepted the nomination as Chair.
A motion was made by Tom Murphy to elect Rick Rhodes as Chair. The motion
was seconded by Marty Cohen and carried 4-0.
VICE CHAIR
A motion was made by Ed Morejon to nominate Martin Cohen as Vice Chair. The
motion was seconded by Tom Murphy and carried 4-0.
Mr. Cohen accepted the nomination as Vice Chair.
A motion was made by Tom Murphy to elect Martin Cohen as Vice Chair. The
motion was seconded by Ed Morejon and carried 4-0.
SECRETARY
A motion was made by Ed Morejon to nominate and elect Jon Currier as Secretary.
The motion was seconded by Tom Murphy and carried 4-0.
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:37PM.
Respectfully submitted,
Jon Currier, Secretary