HomeMy WebLinkAboutMinutes Fire Pension 012312PALM BEACH GARDENS FIREFIGHTERS' PENSION FUND
MINUTES OF MEETING HELD
January 23, 2012
A meeting of the Board of Trustees was called to order at 9:01.M. at Council Chambers,
Palm Beach Gardens, Florida. Those persons present were:
TRUSTEES
Tom Murphy, Secretary
Donna Wisneski
Rick Rhodes
OTHERS
Audrey Ross, Administrator
Pedro Herrera, Attorney
Troy Brown, Investment Monitor
Steve Stack, Investment Manager
Steve Gordon, Auditor
It was noted that Mr. Morejon was reelected and the selection of the Chair and Secretary
is tabled until the next meeting when all Trustees are present.
MINUTES
The Board reviewed the minutes of the regular meeting held on November 14, 2011 and
the special meeting held on November 30, 2011.
A motion was made by Rick Rhodes to approve the minutes of the November 14,
2011 regular meeting as amended. The motion was seconded by Donna Wisneski
and carried 3 -0.
A motion was made by Rick Rhodes to approve the minutes of the November 30,
2011 special meeting. The motion was seconded by Donna Wisneski and carried 3-
0.
ADMINISTRATIVE REPORT: RESOURCE CENTERS (AUDREY ROSS)
DISBURSEMENTS
The Board reviewed the disbursements presented for approval by the Administrator. The
Trustees' had a question regarding the Auditors bill. Ms. Ross was asked to recalculate
the current fees owed.
A motion was made by Rick Rhodes to approve the disbursements that were
Presented by the Administrator. The motion was seconded by Donna Wisneski and
carried 3 -0_
BENEFIT APPROVALS
The Board reviewed the application for retirement for Steven Ensinger.
A motion was made by Donna Wisneski to approve the application for retirement
for Steven Ensinger. The motion was seconded by Rick Rhodes and carried 3 -0.
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PRESENTATION OF THE 9/30/2011 AUDITED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS:
(STEVE GORDON)
Mr. Gordon noted that he has issued an unqualified clean opinion regarding the audit,
which is the highest level that can be issued. He reviewed the management discussion
and analyst letter and Ms. Wisneski notified Mr. Gordon that the she does not believe that
he brought the correct copy of the report with him today as the numbers do not match the
draft that was previously emailed out. Mr. Gordon apologized for the inconvenience and
commented that the draft copies that were circulated electronically where correct,
although the report he has here today is not. Mr. Gordon stated that he will reprint the
correct copies and will re- circulate out. The board discussed the situation and agreed that
they will hold a special meeting to approve the audit once the revised reports are issued.
INVESTMENT MONITOR REPORT: THE BOGDAHN GROUP (TROY
BROWN
Mr. Brown reviewed the performance report for the quarter ending December 31, 2011
and stated that this is still a preliminary report because it is still too early to collect all the
data for the end of the year. As of December 31, 2011 we were inline with policy. There
was 50.7% in domestic equity, 27% in domestic fixed income, 8.6% in International
Equity, 8.4% in real estate, 3.5% in global fixed income and 1.8% in cash. He noted that
ICC Capital had a rough quarter because AMR went bankrupt and ICC had a huge
holding in them. ICC still carries them in their portfolio, although during the quarter ICC
allocated another $600K to them about 2 weeks before they filed for bankruptcy.
Therefore ICC has underperformed that last 2 quarters due to bad stock selection and they
are on a warning. For the quarter ending December 31, 2011 the preliminary return for
the total fund was 5.69 %, as total equities were 9.29 %, and the total domestic equity had
a great quarter at 10.60 %. Mr. Brown reviewed the fixed income portfolio and
commented that they had a great turn around this quarter because they were out of
Treasuries.
Lastly Mr. Brown reviewed the flash performance handout through January 19, 2012.
The fund is up 3.5% FYTD and noted that there is a lot of excess cash sitting on the
sides. In addition, both fixed income managers are underweighted compared to the
Policy. Therefore Mr. Brown recommended transferring $600K from cash to the Dana
core fund, and $300K from cash to the Manning and Napier fund to rebalance and be
inline with the Plan's policy. The board agreed and gave Mr. Brown the direction to
rebalance according to the Plan's policy.
ATTORNEY REPORT: SUGERMAN & SUSSKIND (PEDRO HERRERA)
Mr. Herrera reviewed the revised travel expense policy and stated that it will be sent over
to the administrator to be executed.
Mr. Herrera reviewed the letter and email from his office regarding the Division of
Retirements thoughts on the City's proposal to opt out of the Chapter 175 monies. He
commented that the Chapter 175 rules and regulations does have an opt -out clause that
would have to be decided on by the City. Or the City can reduce their benefit levels
below the Chapter 175 statutes and then they would not be eligible to receive State
money. Ms. Wisneski questioned what would happen to the City's portion of the 175
money if they did not accept it. Mr. Herrera explained that the State of Florida would
keep the money and it would be redistributed to all the other pension plans. In addition
the City's insurance carries would still have to pay the assessment fees. The board
discussed the City's proposals and the changes that could happened if implemented.
Ms. Wisneski asked for an update next time as to the status of negotiations and where
they currently are in the process.
Mr. Herrera briefly reviewed the memo he created outlining the pending Ordinance
changes. The board reviewed the pending changes and commented that the 3%
guaranteed fixed rate of return on DROP accounts can be removed because City Council
already denied this.
OTHER BUSINESS
There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 10:59AM.
Respectfully submitted,
Tom Murphy, Secretary