HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Fire Pension 012721CITY OF PALM BEACH GARDENS
FIREFIGHTERS' PENSION BOARD OF TRUSTEES
QUARTERLY MEETING MINUTES
City Hall, Council Chambers
10500 North Military Trail Palm Beach Gardens, FL 33410
Wednesday, January 27, 2021, at 1:00PM
TRUSTEES PRESENT: Mike Zingaro
Rick Rhodes
Jon Currier
Frank Spitalny
Eric Bruns
TRUSTEES ABSENT: None
OTHERS PRESENT: Michelle Rodriguez, Foster & Foster
Siera Feketa, Foster & Foster
John Thinnes, AndCo Consulting
Pedro Herrera, Sugarman and Susskind (via phone)
1. Call to Order— Rick Rhodes called the meeting to order at 1:02pm.
2. Roll Call —As reflected above.
3. Public Comments — None.
4. Approval of Minutes
The Board approved the October 28, 2020, quarterly meeting minutes, upon motion by Jon Currier
and second by Eric Bruns; motion carried 5-0.
5. New Business
a. Certification of election results — Mike Zingaro
i. Siera Feketa advised the Board of the trustee election results. Mike Zingaro
received 28 votes and Brian Marx received 18 votes, therefore Mike Zingaro would
serve as the member elected trustee from January 1, 2021 through December 31,
2024.
The Board voted to certify the election results as presented, upon motion by Eric Bruns and second
by Jon Currier: motion carried, 5-0.
b. Proposed letter to collect unpaid member contributions
i. Siera Feketa reviewed the proposed letter that would be sent to members. Siera
commented the affected members owed pension contributions on sick leave that
was included in the calculation of their average final compensation; however,
pension contributions were never collected. The Board directed the administrator
to send the letter as presented and collect the unpaid pension contributions.
c. Julie Tuman share plan distribution under CARES Act
i. Michelle Rodriguez advised the Board Rick Rhodes approved retiree Julie Tuman
to take a partial distribution from her Share Plan account. Michelle commented
since the plan provisions required members to take a total distribution from their
Share Plan accounts, she needed the Board to ratify the partial Share Plan
distribution.
The Board voted to ratify Julie Tuman's partial Share Plan distribution, upon motion by Eric Bruns
and second by Mike Zingaro: motion carried 5-0.
ii. Pedro Herrera advised the Board an Ordinance amendment should be done to
allow partial Share Plan distributions in accordance with the Federal CARES Act.
d. Election of officers (Chairman/Vice-Chairman/Secretary)
The Board voted to retain the current officers for the next year as Rick Rhodes Chairman, Eric
Bruns as Vice -Chairman and Jon Currier as Secretary, upon motion by Frank Spitalnv and second
by Jon Currier: motion carried, 5-0.
6. Reports
a. AndCo Consulting, John Thinnes, Investment Consultant
i. Quarterly report as of December 31, 2020 (preliminary)
1. John Thinnes reviewed the market environment over the last quarter.
John reviewed the treasury yield curve and commented the Fed had cut
interest rates to almost zero and they were expected to keep them low.
2. John commented the market value of the fund as of this morning were
$133.7 million.
3. John reviewed the recent changes to the fund terminating the services of
Fiduciary Management and putting the proceeds into the Vanguard Index
funds. John explained the process of purchasing index funds that
ensured they were never out of the market and commented although it
was a tedious process, it was advantageous for the plan.
4. The preliminary market value of assets as of December 31, 2020 was
$132,259,772.
5. The total fund gross returns for the quarter were 9.85%, slightly
outperforming the benchmark of 9.82%. The total fund trailing gross
returns for the 1,3, 5, 7, and 10-year periods were 10.43%, 8.83%,
10.17%, 8.77% and 9.50% respectively. Since inception (May 01, 1998),
total fund gross returns were 6.71%, slightly underperforming the
benchmark of 6.72%.
6. John Thinnes reviewed the comparative performance of the plan's funds.
Frank Spitalny asked about the real estate strategy and John commented
they had a long-term focus and not every investment manager would
outperform every quarter.
7. John Thinnes commented the Dana Large Cap fund had underperformed
and said he would ask one of their representatives to attend the next
meeting. Mike Zingaro asked for the Dana returns since inception and a
comparison of pre and post COVID returns.
8. Rick Rhodes asked for the final real estate returns and asked if there was
a queue for getting out of the Real Estate market. John Thinnes
commented they still had money allocated to core real estate, but they
were in much better shape to move out of those funds because he had not
seen a massive run on their two funds. Rick asked if there had been a big
downturn in the Real Estate market due to people not paying their rent and
John commented it had not been as bad as everyone expected.
b. Sugarman and Susskind, Pedro Herrera, Plan Attorney
i. Pedro Herrera advised the Board they were due for an updated Summary Plan
Description (SPD); however, they may want to wait until the Union and City
negotiations were concluded. Pedro commented he did not think they had any
meetings yet, and he did not know the City's intention. The Board agreed by
consensus to update the SPD now. Pedro commented he would have a proposed
update at the next meeting
ii. E-Verify Law
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1. Pedro Herrera reviewed the requirements of the new law, Florida Statute
Section 448.095, that required every public employer, to register
employees, contractors and sub -contractors with the E-Verify system.
Pedro commented pension plans were required to comply and explained
the system was run by the federal government and served to verify the
immigration status of prospective employees.
7. Old Business — None.
8. Consent Agenda
a. Payment ratification
i. Warrant #37, #38 and #39
b. Payment approval
i. None
c. Fund activity report for October 22, 2020through January 20, 2020
The Board voted to accept the Consent Agenda as presented, upon motion by Jon Currier and
second by Eric Bruns; motion carried 5-0.
The Board voted to accept the Fund Activity report as presented, upon motion by Eric Bruns and
second by Jon Currier: motion carried 5-0.
9. Staff Reports. Discussions and Action
a. Foster & Foster, Michelle Rodriguez/Siera Feketa, Plan Administrator
i. Fiduciary liability policy renewal
1. Siera Feketa advised the Board their $2 million fiduciary liability policy was
up for renewal and the annual premium increased by $291.00 due to an
8.0% increase in plan assets. Frank Spitalny asked if they needed more
coverage. Pedro Herrera commented the amount of the policy was
consistent with the plan assets and did not recommend any changes at
this time. John Thinnes commented AndCo Consulting had its own policy
which would cover any investment liabilities. Pedro explained the policy
carried a waiver of recourse rider which meant that the insurance carrier
agreed that it would not seek to recover from a trustee any claims
payments made by the carrier. Frank Spitlany asked the administrator to
get quotes on $5 million and $10 million policies and bring them to the next
meeting.
The Board voted to bind the fiduciary liability policy as presented, upon motion by Eric Bruns and
second by Mike Zingaro; motion carried 5-0.
!Vote: Jon Currier left at 1:47pm.
ii. Upcoming educational opportunities
1. FPPTA Beginning with Basics, March 10, 2021, Virtual
2. FPPTA Spring Trustee School CPPT Program, April 6-9, 2021, Virtual
3. FPPTA Spring Trustee School CEU Program, May 4-5, 2021, Virtual
a. Siera Feketa reviewed the upcoming educational opportunities
and commented as of now, the FPPTA was planning to keep their
annual conference in person.
iii. Siera Feketa advised the Board the proposed Ordinance incorporating the
SECURE Act provisions passed first reading and was scheduled for second
reading on February 04, 2021.
iv. Siera Feketa commented she was in the process of setting up repayments for the
four retirees who received and overpayment in their ICMA/RC accounts.
v. Siera Feketa commented COLA letters had been mailed out to everyone who
received a COLA on January 01, 2021.
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10. Trustee's Reports. Discussion and Action — None.
11. Adjournment —The meeting was adjourned at 2:07pm.
12. Next Meeting — April 28, 2021, at 1:00pm, quarterly meeting.
Respectfully submitted by:
Michelle Rodriguez, Plan Administrat
Appr e
Currier, Se
Date Approved by the Pension Board: ql a 0 az�/