HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Fire Pension 102523CITY 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, October 25, 2023, at 1:OOPM
TRUSTEES PRESENT: Rick Rhodes
Lisa Lalonde
Jon Currier
Mike Zingaro
Thomas Topor
TRUSTEES ABSENT: None
OTHERS PRESENT: Siera Feketa, Foster & Foster
John Thinnes, AndCo Consulting
Pedro Herrera, Sugarman & Susskind
Greg Peters, Dana Investment Advisors
Doug Lozen, Foster & Foster
Karen Russo, Salem Trust
1. Call to Order — Rick Rhodes called the meeting to order at 1:OOPM.
2. Roll Call — As reflected above.
3. Public Comments
a. Rick Rhodes welcomed Lisa Lalonde as the new Trustee.
4. Approval of Minutes
a. July 26, 2023, quarterly meeting
The Board approved the July 26 2023 quarterly meeting minutes upon motion by Jon Currier and
second by Mike Zmgaro• motion carried 5-0
5. New Business
a. Update on Trustee terms
i. Siera Feketa commented Lisa Lalonde was appointed to the Board and Thomas Topor
was reappointed.
ii. Siera Feketa confirmed these were new terms as asked by Rick Rhodes.
b. Election of Vice -Chairman
i. Siera Feketa commented Eric Bruns was the Vice -Chairman and since he left the Board,
they didn't have a Vice -Chairman.
The Board approved electing Mike Zingaro as Vice -Chairman upon motion by Jon Currier and
second by Thomas Topor• motion carried 5-0
6. _Consent Agenda
a. Payment ratification
i. Warrants #63, #64
b. Payment approval
i. None
c. Fund activity report for July 20, 2023 — October 18, 2023
The Board approved the Consent Agenda as presented upon motion by Thomas Topor and second
by Jon Currier; motion carried 5-0
7. Reports
a. Dana Investment Advisors, Greg Peters, Investment Manager
i. Quarterly report as of September 30, 2023
1. Greg Peters gave a brief background on Dana.
2. Greg Peters reviewed the portfolio summary.
3. Greg Peters reviewed the economic and market update. Greg touched on how
they were positioned in relation to the market. Greg discussed how the market
impacted their portfolio.
4. Greg Peters reviewed Dana's large cap equity strategy.
5. Justin Thinnes asked how Dana was doing for October. Greg Peters commented
for the quarter -to -date, they were outperforming the S&P by twenty-six basis
points.
6. Rick Rhodes commented they used to be invested in two Dana funds, but they
were only invested in one now. Rick asked for that to be explained to the new
Trustee. John Thinnes reviewed the history of the plan investing with Dana and
the factors that led them to only invest in large cap.
b. AndCo Consulting, John Thinnes, Investment Consultant
i. Quarterly report as of September 30, 2023
1. John Thinnes reviewed the market environment for the quarter.
2. John Thinnes reviewed the asset allocation by asset class.
3. John Thinnes reviewed the asset allocation compliance and commented they
were in compliance, so there were no changes needed at that time.
4. John Thinnes reviewed the financial reconciliation.
5. The total fund preliminary gross returns for the quarter were-3.17%, slightly
outperforming the benchmark of-3.22%. The total fund trailing gross returns for
the 1, 3, 5, 7, and 10-year periods were 10.38%, 4.55%, 5.04%, 6.96%, and 7.19%
respectively. Since inception (May 1, 1998), total fund gross returns were 6.13%,
slightly underperforming the benchmark of 6.15%.
6. John Thinnes discussed the performance of the investment managers and how
they impacted the portfolio.
7. John Thinnes reviewed the compliance checklist.
8. Mike Zingaro asked about fixed income; with rates as high as they were, were
they looking to increase their fixed income. John Thinnes commented they
currently had quite a bit of cash due to the city contributions being deposited.
John commented they had roughly just over 5.00% in cash. John felt they could
currently leave that in cash and evaluate their cash position at the next meeting.
Mike and John discussed the cash position and their compliance.
9. John Thinnes and Rick Rhodes discussed their money market fund.
10. The Board agreed with Justin Thinnes' recommendation to keep cash.
11. John Thinnes gave an update on the capital being called for Mavik and Golub as
requested by Rick Rhodes. John commented Golub was almost there, but Mavik
still had quite a bit to go.
8. Old Business
a. Siera Feketa, Foster & Foster, Plan Administrator
i. Form PF-30 (Entitlement to Share Plan Funds for Members Who Terminate with a Right
to a Vested Deferred Benefit)
1. Siera Feketa briefly reviewed the form and commented it was for vested
terminated members advising that if they take their share plan, they could not
take a return of contributions later.
2. Pedro Herrera discussed an opinion given on this previously by Bob Sugarman.
Pedro felt the share plan and pension were mutually exclusive. Pedro
commented if they took a refund, they were forfeiting their right to a pension
benefit so they should not get the share if they got the refund. Pedro commented
he would argue that inherently the share plan was a pension benefit so if
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someone takes a refund, they should not get the share plan. Pedro commented
he would recommend the Board approve the form.
3. Rick Rhodes asked if there were any members who were vested terminated who
had taken a refund and their share balance. Siera Feketa commented she had to
look.
4. Pedro Herrera, Siera Feketa, and the Board discussed vested terminated
members. Pedro commented if the Board was okay with it, he would like to find
out if anybody took both a refund and their share plan. Pedro commented his
initial opinion was not to collect those monies back and go backwards. Jon
Currier asked if other plans had this form. Pedro and Siera confirmed they did.
5. Pedro Herrera commented he thought they had been consistent with their
opinion that you could not take both a refund and the share, but their language
was unique. Pedro commented he thought the better approach was to say if they
took the refund, they could not take the share.
6. Doug Lozen briefly introduced himself and the way he sees the share plans
handled throughout the State. Doug commented normally he saw where if they
take their share, they could not take the refund.
The Board voted to adopt form PF-30 as presented upon motion by Jon Currier and second by
Mike Zinciaro, motion carried 5-0
7. The Board directed Siera Feketa and Pedro Herrera to investigate if this situation
impacted anyone in the past and to look at the share plan policy to see if it
needed to be updated.
Reports (Continued)
a. Salem Trust Company, Karen Russo, Board Custodian
i. Update on Salem Trust
1. Karen Russo briefly reviewed her role as the custodian.
2. Karen Russo gave a brief update on the member portal.
3. Rick Rhodes asked if Foster & Foster sent out the portal information with the
retiree packet. Siera Feketa commented she believed so but would confirm.
4. Mike Zingaro asked how the portal helped the administrator. Siera Feketa gave a
brief update and commented she thought it helped and would help even more in
the future.
5. Karen Russo discussed the merger between TMI and Argent and commented
Argent was now their parent company.
b. Foster & Foster, Doug Lozen, Board Actuary
i. Discussion of share plan methodology
1. Doug Lozen discussed the share plan and DROP schedules commenting there
had been some questions from the members wondering about the inconsistent
timing with the DROP and share plan statements. Doug commented historically it
was because they were waiting on the final returns, but due to their investments,
the final returns were delayed.
2. Doug Lozen reviewed his discussion with the investment consultant, and they felt
they could use the preliminary report that was presented at the next meeting.
Doug stated the final report might be a few basis points off, but if they used the
preliminary report, they knew exactly when the numbers were provided to Foster
& Foster as Siera Feketa got them at the quarterly meetings. Doug's proposal
was to update the share plan and DROP balances using the preliminary returns.
3. John Thinnes reviewed the investments that caused the delay in getting the
returns. John commented it was a very small portion of the portfolio that would
not be included in the preliminary number. Rick Rhodes commented sometimes
they were also waiting on real estate. John suggested they used the number
after the real estate was added, which usually was ready for the meeting. Mike
Zingaro asked if they would eventually get a final calculation. John commented
he did not believe so and they would just use the preliminary number, which
would have delayed returns for Golub and Mavik.
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4. Jon Currier commented he liked the idea of using the preliminary report more as
he fields a lot of questions relating to the statements. Lisa Lalonde agreed.
5. Rick Rhodes asked if Siera Feketa would create a policy. Siera commented she
was not sure it was necessary, but she could if the Board would like. Mike
Zingaro asked if they currently had a written policy. Siera informed the Board
they did not.
6. Thomas Topor discussed this having an impact on the members and the city to
make things easier administratively. Mike Zingaro reviewed the questions from
the members. Thomas asked if there were any legal issues with the change in
the process. Pedro Herrera commented there was nothing explicitly dealing with
this. Pedro reviewed the ordinance commenting the Board had the authority to
administer the plan. Thomas and Pedro discussed.
7. Jon Currier asked why the statements were produced so much later than the
others. Doug Lozen reviewed the returns that are used for the preparation of the
share plan and DROP statements informing the Board there were different
returns used for them.
8. Doug Lozen commented the State Monies had increased over $500,000.00 so
members would be getting share plan allocations much higher than the previous
years.
The Board approved using the preliminary report as presented as long as real estate was included
for share plan and DROP quarterly updates upon motion by Jon Currier and second by Mike
Zingaro; motion carried 5-0
9. Rick Rhodes asked if Golub and Mavik reported next week, would they be in the
next quarterly report. John Thinnes confirmed they would be. The Board agreed
they would get that interest then in the next quarterly report.
c. Sugarman & Susskind, Pedro Herrera, Board Attorney
i. Proposed Ordinance
1. Pedro Herrera reviewed the Ordinance the city would be introducing to the
Council for adoption hopefully. Pedro commented this was to include the
firefighter cancer presumptions and the changes under the Secure Act 2.0. Pedro
commented they sent this to the city previously and the city did not want to adopt
it, but now they got a letter from the State asking about the ordinance including
the cancer presumptions.
2. Doug Lozen commented it would be a no impact letter because they were
already funding for it.
3. Rick Rhodes and Pedro Herrera briefly discussed the Ordinance.
The Board approved and recommended the adoption of the Ordinance to Council and direct the
Plan actuary to prepare the no impact letter, upon motion by Mike Zingaro and second by Jon
Currier; motion carried 5-0
4. Pedro Herrera gave a brief update on House Bill 3 (HB 3). Pedro commented
they were working on a sample report with other attorneys that had been sent to
the State and they were still waiting for feedback. Pedro discussed the new portal
he believed would be established to upload this report. Pedro commented for
purposes of the minutes he would like the Board to approve the filing of that
report contingent upon legal approval.
5. Pedro Herrera commented he was also preparing a letter to go to the investment
managers where they had a separately managed account. Pedro commented he
would like Board approval to send a letter to the managers.
The Board approved filing of the report contingent upon legal report and approved plan attornev
sending letter to investment managers and notifying them of HB 3 requirements upon motion by
Mike Zingaro and second by Thomas Topor• motion carried 5 0
Note: Mike Zingaro left at 2:59PM.
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10. Staff Reports, Discussion and Action
a. Foster & Foster, Siera Feketa, Plan Administrator
i. Update on State Annual Report and State Monies deposit
1. Siera Feketa commented the State Annual Report was approved on September
5, 2023, and Doug Lozen already covered the State Monies.
2. Siera Feketa, Doug Lozen, and the Board discussed the allocations the members
would get to the share plan.
ii. Update on SB534 posting requirements
1. Siera Feketa reviewed the SB534 posting requirements and commented they
were sent to the city for posting on July 27, 2023.
iii. Renewal of Board memberships
1. Siera Feketa reviewed the FPPTA renewal and commented it was $750.00 for
the year.
The Board voted to renew FPPTA membership for 2024 upon motion by Jon Currier and second
by Thomas Topor; motion carried 4-0
iv. Upcoming educational opportunities
I. Siera Feketa reviewed the upcoming FPPTA Winter Trustees School from
January 28-31, 2024, in Orlando, FL.
v. Siera Feketa commented they received the signed letter from Michael Kelly agreeing to
deduct the overpayment of his DROP from his share plan account so that matter had
been taken care of.
11. Trustee's Reports, Discussion and Action — None.
12. Adjournment — The meeting was adjourned at 3:05PM.
13. Next Meeting — January 24, 2024, at 1:OOPM, quarterly meeting.
Respectfully submitted by:
Siera Feketa, Plan Administrator
Approved by:
6�t �
Jpa urrier, Sec
Date Approved by the Pension Board: