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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 2 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 3 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. 4 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. 5 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