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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. 2 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