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HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Fire Pension 092011PALM BEACH GARDENS FIREFIGHTERS' PENSION FUND MINUTES OF MEETING HELD September 20, 2011 A meeting of the Board of Trustees was called to order at 9:08A.M. at Council Chambers, Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Those persons present were: TRUSTEES Ed Morej on, Chair Tom Murphy, Secretary Donna Wisneski Mark Joyce Rick Rhodes MINUTES OTHERS Margie Adcock, Audrey Ross, Administrator Pedro Herrera, Attorney Troy Brown, Investment Monitor Donna Kramer, City of PBG Scott Raynor, City of PBG Firefighter The Board reviewed the minutes of the regular meeting held on July 22, 2011 and the special meeting held on September 2, 2011. A motion was made by Rick Rhodes to approve the minutes of the July 22, 2011 regular meeting. The motion was seconded by Tom Murphy and carried 5 -0. A motion was made by Tom Murphy to approve the minutes of the September 2, 2011 special meeting. The motion was seconded by Mark Joyce and carried 5 -0. Ms. Ross commented that GRS stated that they would have the Actuarial studies completed by the latter part of October. INVESTMENT MONITOR REPORT Mr. Brown updated the board on the current market environment and commented that all active managers underperformed during the quarter. For the fiscal year to date through August the fund was up 5.97 %, but September was not a good month at all. Mr. Brown reviewed the Global Bond presentation and reviewed a couple of different mangers that offered this product. Mr. Brown commented that he would recommend the Templeton Global Bond for this fund. He ran an example of an asset class report which included both Global Bonds and TIPS in the portfolio going back a couple of years. Mr. Brown explained that by adding Templeton Global Bonds into the portfolio, it increased the portfolio by 5% per year. He then reviewed the historic risks versus reward charts and stated that this fund does not add a significant increase in risks, but it actually takes it away buy adding diversification to the portfolio. Global bonds are actual bonds that contain over 162 securities in the fund. The board discussed the product and Ms. Wisneski questioned whether or not Mr. Brown thinks this product could shift directions the opposite way due to the current negative market situations out there. Mr. Brown commented that the board previously decided not to move into Global Bonds, which was a good decision at that time because since then they took a big hit and now they are low again, so now you want to buy into them. Mr. Brown briefly reviewed the fee schedule and reported that it is 55 basis points, and he would recommend allocating 5% to Global Bonds, which is about $1.4M 2 A motion was made by Donna Wisneski to hire and allocate $1.4M to Templeton Global Bonds. The motion was seconded by Mark Joyce and carried 4 -1. Mr. Brown reviewed the revisions that were made to the Investment Policy Guidelines in order to add the Templeton Global Bond product in. A motion was made by Rick Rhodes to approve and adopt and the revised Investment Policy Guidelines as presented. The motion was seconded by Donna Wisneski and carried 5 -0. The Board discussed the individual DROP account reporting and Ms. Ross commented that currently the Actuary charges $350 per DROP statement. Mr. Brown commented that Regions would create a separate individual account for each DROP member, and the fee is 4 basis points per member. Also Regions will mail out quarterly statements directly to the member and will copy any other parties that are interested as well. A motion was made by Mark Joyce to approve Regions Bank to prepare the DROP account statements for each member. The motion was seconded by Rick Rhodes and carried 5 -0. ATTORNEY REPORT Mr. Raynor introduced himself and stated that he is an active firefighter with the City and he had has some questions regarding the pension. He commented that most of them were hypothetical questions regarding the pension, but he wanted to know when changes would be implemented if the City were to make some. Mr. Herrera explained that all changes will be effective when the Collective Bargaining Agreement is signed and ratified by both parties. The board discussed the multiple changes that could be happening and how it could affect the pension plan. Mr. Herrera reviewed the Manning & Napier letter that is notifying us of their firm restructuring. He noted that there will be no impact to the Plan. Mr. Herrera reviewed and compared the City's travel reimbursement policy to the Boards current policy. He commented that there was not much of a difference between the two except for the per diem dollar amounts. The Trustees thoroughly went through their travel policy and updated and made any necessary changes. A motion was made by Donna Wisneski to approve and accept the changes that were made to the Travel Reimbursement Policy. The motion was seconded by Rick Rhodes and carried 5 -0. Mr. Herrera stated that his firm will be sending out a memo electronically regarding Senate Bill 1128. Mr. Herrera reviewed the new Commission on Ethnics Policy. All Trustees must abide by the County policy so therefore all gifts, dinners, conferences, or any event that you attend by and service provider or vender of the pension board or City must be reported. He explained that there are still a lot of questions regarding the restrictions and guidelines that are yet to be answered by the County, but as soon as they receive more information they will circulate out a memo. ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT BENEFIT APPROVALS The Board reviewed the application for an early retirement for Gary Schmitz. A motion was made by Mark Joyce to approve the application for an early retirement for Gary Schmitz. The motion was seconded by Rick Rhodes and carried 5 -0. Ms. Adcock presented the engagement letter and the peer reviewed from Steve Gordon to perform the Audit for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2011. It was noted that Mr. Gordon's peer review needed to be renewed by December of this year. A motion was made by Rick Rhodes to approve the approve and accept the September 30, 2011 Audit Engagement Letter as prepared by Steven I. Gordon, CPA. The motion was seconded by Donna Wisneski and carried 5 -0. DISBURSEMENTS The Board reviewed the disbursements presented for approval by the Administrator. A motion was made by Rick Rhodes to approve the disbursements that were Presented by the Administrator. The motion was seconded by Tom Murphy and carried 5 -0. OTHER BUSINESS Ms. Adcock commented to the Board that Mr. Rhodes term is set to expire on September 30, 2011. He is the Fifth Trustee so therefore he is elected by the other 4 Trustees on the Board. The board discussed and noted that there has not been any other interested parties that have come forth. A motion was made by Tom Murphy to nominate and elect Rick Rhodes as the Fifth Trustee to serve another term effective October 1, 2011. The motion was seconded by Mark Joyce and carried 4 -0. Mr. Morejon explained to the board that he was directed at the last meeting to send a letter to the City as Chair of the Fire Board regarding the pending Ordinance. He commented that since the last meeting he spoke to the City and they explained that they have the Ordinance, but they are holding off on approving it until the other changes that will be implemented are in place as well. Therefore Mr. Morejon has not sent the letter and the other Trustees agreed that sending a letter would probably have no effect at this time. There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 11:35AM. Respectfully submitted, Tom Murphy, Secretary