Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAbout05-09-2007 Minutes Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the CITY OF OCOEE GENERAL EMPLOYEES’ PENSION BOARD Held on May 9, 2007 At 150 N. Lakeshore Drive Ocoee, FL 34761 AGENDA ITEM I. CALL TO ORDER – Chairman Wagner A.Chairman Russ Wagner called the meeting to order at 10:11 a.m. in the Commission Chambers in City Hall. The roll was called and a quorum declared present. Present were Trustees Russ Wagner, Wendy West, Terry Reed, Tom Hendrix and Jean Grafton. Also present were H. Lee Dehner, Attorney; Jim Carnicella, Human Resources Director/Plan Administrator; Mike Sebesta, Money Manager, Trusco Capital Management; Larry Cole, Monitor, Merrill Lynch; Brad Heinrichs, Consulting Actuary, Foster & Foster; and Dianne Garcia, Relationship Manager, SunTrust. B.Approval of Minutes from Regular Joint Session dated February 7, 2007 and Approval of Minutes from Joint Special Session dated January 11, 2007 Chairman Wagnercalled for review of the Minutes as stated. There being no additions or on motion made by Trustee Hendrix, seconded by Trustee West, corrections, it was, unanimously RESOLVED that the Minutes of the Regular Joint Session of the Board of Trustees of the General Employees’ Pension Board and of the Board of Trustees of the Police Officers’/Firefighters’ Pension Board of February 7, 2007 and the Minutes of the Joint Special Session of the Board of Trustees of the General Employees’ Pension Board and of the Board of Trustees of the Police Officers’/Firefighters’ Pension Board of January 11, 2007, be and are hereby approved. AGENDA ITEM II. NEW BUSINESS Chairman Wagner advised the Board that Brad Heinrichs, Consulting Actuary with Foster & Foster was in attendance and had a brief presentation to make to the Board. Chairman Wagner asked Attorney Dehner if the Board needed to amend the agenda to add Brad Heinrichs, to which On motion made by Trustee Hendrix, seconded by Trustee Attorney Dehner stated yes. Reed, unanimously RESOLVED that the Agenda for the City of Ocoee General Employees’ Pension Board of May 9, 2007 be amended to add Brad Heinrichs, Foster & Foster as D under Item II, New Business. General Employees Pension Board Quarterly Meeting, May 9, 2007 Page 2 of 6 A.Money Manager’s Report – Michael Sebesta, Managing Director, Trusco Capital Mike Sebesta handed out a copy of the investment review for the first calendar year quarter of 2007. Mr. Sebesta reported that Equity Securities finished a very volatile quarter on a positive note with a difficult February but finished up with a pretty strong March. He stated most sizes as far as Large Cap, Small Cap and Mid Cap Stocks posted positive returns for the quarter and Bonds / Fixed Income Securities out performed Stocks on average. Mike Sebesta also reported that the Federal Reserve, for the quarter, did not change interest rates or their policy. Mr. Sebesta stated that the outlook for our plan hasn’t changed much at all from the last quarter and expected the economy to grow at a moderate pace throughout 2007. He stated they believe the Equity market will continue to provide a reasonable return throughout this year. Mike Sebesta continued to go over the handout and stated they expect stocks for 2007 to grow between 8% & 10%, bond returns are expected to be about 4½% and GDP should grow at an average rate of 2½%. Mr. Sebesta stated that relating to the assets they manage at Trusco and SunTrust the total portfolio earnings for the quarter were $219,000, most of that coming in unrealized gains and losses, gains of $199,000, and some contributions into the plan of $87,000. He stated as of yesterday the market value of these assets moved up to $11,480,000. Mike Sebesta reported that despite the volatility in the first quarter the assets were up 2.01%, with the fiscal year to date total assets up 7% so it looks like it is shaping up to be a pretty good year. He stated that Mid Cap was modestly above the benchmark at 12½% and the best continues to be International as it was up in the last 6 months over 15%. He stated that the Fixed Income side had modest returns as the last 12 months were up about 5.9%, which is pretty good compared to the last four years. Mike Sebesta said the Fixed Income Portfolio had a very high quality rating and has a benchmark AAA rating but our fund has an even higher quality rating. Mike Sebesta said they no longer manage the Large Growth portion but wanted the Board to know they hired a new Chief Investment Officer and restructured the team so hopefully in the future they will get to demonstrate that the changes made in Trusco were positive and will address the performance issues. Larry Cole asked Mr. Sebesta to address any other organizational changes made, specifically for the Value product or Fixed Income product, to which Mike Sebesta explained. Trustee Wagner asked the Board if there were any questions. B.Investment Consultant Report – Larry Cole, Merrill Lynch Larry Cole went over the investment consultant reports that were handed out to the Board for the quarter ending March 2007 and stated that the news was good and even since the end of March has seen strong markets and good corporate earnings. Mr. Cole said on the Bond side we can expect around 4% or 5% but Stocks are still doing very good. He stated that the quarterly earnings were $267,707, with the fiscal year to date earnings just under one million ($987,739). Mr. Cole stated that International was up to about 16%, the target is 15%. Larry Cole said Trusco was managing about 75% of the portfolio and with the new agreements with Alger and Transamerica it will take about another 10% out of Trusco’s arena. Mr. Cole reported that the fund ranking was in the top 38% relative to other pension funds. He also reported that they made some moves recently that should help move the fund in the right direction and continued to go over the handouts. Mr. Cole suggested bringing the Board a Large Cap Manager search to consider as he feels this is a section of the portfolio that needs attention. Mr. Cole continued and reported that Growth Fund of America is doing what we wanted it to do. Larry Cole stated that Trusco concerns him because of all the changes and said the Board may want to take a look at General Employees Pension Board Quarterly Meeting, May 9, 2007 Page 3 of 6 some other Large Cap Value alternatives. Trustee Wagner referred to past reports and asked how our plan compared to others in the state. Larry Cole stated that the report was for a one year ranking and the fund was at 8.8% (below average) but the fiscal year to date numbers have been improving especially over the past several months so that ranking should improve. Trustee Wagner asked if this report was just their clients, to which Mr. Cole said yes. Larry Cole continued to go over handouts and spoke about real estate products being an option to look at as they are high yielding products and said they continue to look at options. (Plan Administrator Jim Carnicella arrived at 10:55 a.m.). Trustee Wagner referred to the good news about the year to date being above the actuarial assumption to which Larry Cole responded that it was up around closer to 10% as of today, 8.8% for the last 12 months. Trustee Wagner asked the Board if there were any questions. Trustee Reed asked if the Board should make a motion to have Larry Cole come back with alternatives for Large Cap Value Managers. Larry Cole replied that he was looking at it as an option and that getting a list of alternatives by doing a Managers search doesn’t obligate the Board to do anything. He stated that performance has been below the benchmark and below the average peer group, which is about 20% to 22% of the total portfolio (about 24% of Trusco’s portfolio). Trustee Wagner stated that he was in agreement to have n motion made by Trustee Reed, Larry Cole bring back this information to the Board. O seconded by Trustee Hendrix, unanimously RESOLVED to have Merrill Lynch bring back to the Board alternatives for Large Cap Value Managers. Larry Cole asked the Board if there were any managers they wanted to include in the search to let him know. Attorney Lee Dehner asked Larry Cole to give the Board an update on the SCC inquiry into Merrill Lynch to which Larry replied that there was nothing to report as the SCC still has not suggested or recommended they do anything different or make any changes. Attorney Dehner said that he was negotiating a new contract with Merrill Lynch and asked to add discussions concerning contract negotiations on the next agenda under Merrill Lynch’s section of the agenda. C.Execute the Investment Management Agreements with Transamerica and Alger Attorney Lee Dehner spoke briefly about the Investment Agreements and stated everything was in place to happen once the Agreements were signed. Chairman Wagner asked if there needed to be a motion made. Attorney Dehner stated that this was approved at the last meeting contingent upon successful negotiations, which has been done, so the Agreements just needed to be signed. D.Actuary Report – Brad Heinrichs, Foster & Foster Brad Heinrichs stated that at one of the prior meeting the Board asked him to look at the DROP (Deferred Retirement Option Plan) and PLOP (Partial Lump Sum Option Plan) and handed out materials to the Board showing examples. Mr. Heinrichs explained the handouts and stated that he added a third one for the Board to look at, which is the BACK DROP, and went on to explain. Trustee Wagner asked if under the DROP example the money was both the City and the employees’ portion. Mr. Heinrichs explained that instead of getting the retirement benefit from the plan, when they enter the DROP it is set aside and grows with interest then the employee would receive this money when they leave employment. Brad Heinrichs went on to explain that with the BACK DROP the difference was that it allows the employee to accrue additional General Employees Pension Board Quarterly Meeting, May 9, 2007 Page 4 of 6 benefits and gives the option of going retroactively into the DROP but that he wasn’t an advocate for this type of plan and went on to explain. Mr. Heinrichs gave an example of the BACK DROP and how someone could retroactively go into the DROP and receive a refund of the contributions made during that time. Trustee Grafton asked if the City would also get a refund as well to which Brad answered no. Brad Heinrichs continued going over the examples. Mr. Heinrichs explained that under the DROP the employee can get a large lump sum while they are in the DROP but the City continues to make contributions while the member does not since the benefit is not continuing to grow. Mr. Heinrichs stated the BACK DROP can be somewhat confusing and went on to explain. He stated that under the PLOP the employee would get a lump sum even at early retirement and was typically very easy to administer. He explained that the key thing is that the member continues to get pay increases and service accruals. Brad Heinrichs stated the Board could have a PLOP and a DROP and explained further. Trustee Wagner confirmed the plan already had the DROP provision and asked what the Board would have to do to add the PLOP. Mr. Heinrich said the Attorney would have to draw up an ordinance to allow for whatever PLOP options the Board elected. Brad Heinrichs stated that there would be no actuarial impact to the plan for the PLOP, further discussions ensued. Trustee Wagner asked Attorney Dehner if the Board would have to direct him to go forward with the PLOP to which Attorney Dehner answered yes and stated that it would then have to go before the City Commission for approval. Trustee Hendrix asked the Board if they should poll the employees. Trustee Wagner replied that it would be hard to do. Trustee Wagner asked Attorney Lee Dehner if there was any downside to doing the PLOP. Attorney Dehner stated there was no downside from the City’s perspective. Attorney Dehner said the lump sum would be available at early retirement too and Brad Heinrichs explained in further detail. Plan Administrator Jim Carnicella spoke briefly and stated that the Summary Plan Description needed to be amended to show the Cap (after approx. 27 years of service) and the 3% multiplier. Mr. Carnicella stated that he doesn’t recommend changing the retirement age, which is currently 60 but suggested that the Board may want to look at the DROP window as they may want to allow employees to DROP sooner. Attorney Dehner agreed that the Summary Plan Description needed to be revised and a review could be made at the next meeting. Trustee Wagner asked Mr. Carnicella if they should allow an employee to do the DROP and the PLOP. Mr. Carnicella answered yes and explained. Attorney Dehner said there doesn’t have to be a window for the DROP and went on to explained. Brad Heinrichs spoke about the actuarial impact of having no window regarding early retirement. Jim Carnicella said he wouldn’t mind recommending it to the Commission if the actuarial study shows there isn’t much of an impact. Attorney Dehner spoke about the Cap in the plan and advised the Board of some options (i.e.: early entry into the DROP, provide an election to allow employees to stop contributing and calculate the benefit at that point, or stay in the plan and still contribute as the salary increases would still increase the calculation), discussion ensued. Jim Carnicella said the Board could ask the Attorney to come back with some options that don’t increase the City’s contribution too much and provide the employees with a number of options. Attorney Dehner stated that he has amended other plans to change the DROP window to 7 years and stated that he could put something together for the Board. Trustee Grafton asked if a COLA could be considered and said she would like to get the amount tied to the cost of living index. Brad Heinrichs explained this would cause the contributions to the plan to jump up quite a bit. Jim Carnicella said that the Commission has asked for a workshop with the Board to discuss the th COLA, the possibility of a 13 check and the performance of the fund and said that, from what he understood, the Commission wasn’t looking for the City’s contribution to be raised but possibly increase performance in the fund which could assist retirees in getting a COLA of some th sort. Trustee Grafton asked if that was what the Commission workshop on May 30was going General Employees Pension Board Quarterly Meeting, May 9, 2007 Page 5 of 6 th to be about. Mr. Carnicella replied that the workshop on May 30 was to discuss the health care plan. Jim Carnicella said he would get a date(s) from the Commission but that it would be about 3 or 4 weeks out. Trustee Wagner asked Mr. Carnicella to get back to the Board with the date(s) AGENDA ITEM III. OLD BUSINESS A.Attorney Professional Services Agreement – H. Lee Dehner, Esq. Attorney Dehner stated that since the Board had approved the increase at the last Board meeting the agreement just needed to be signed. AGENDA ITEM IV. OTHER BUSINESS A. FPPTA 2007 Conference (June 24-27 in Naples, FL) – Jim Carnicella, HR Director Jim Carnicella asked the Board which members would be attending the upcoming Conference. Trustee Reed, Trustee Grafton and Trustee Hendrix stated they would be attending, Trustee Wagner stated that he would not be attending and Trustee West was not sure but would let him know. B. Payment of Invoices On motion Trustee Grafton stated that the invoices were in the packet for the Board to approve. made by Trustee Grafton, seconded by Trustee West, unanimously RESOLVED to approve that the bills and other charges and fees be and are hereby approved for payment as presented. C. Reports and Correspondence – Jean Grafton, Trustee/Secretary Trustee Grafton advised that she was not finished with the report as she did not have access to a printer. Plan Administrator Carnicella said that he would take care of giving her the access. AGENDA ITEM V. ATTORNEY COMMENTS – H. Lee Dehner, Esq. Attorney Dehner spoke about the pension protection act and advised that the buy back provision (air time) was just beginning to be discussed and just wanted to make the Board aware of it. st Attorney Dehner reminded the Board they needed to file their financial disclosure by July 1 as there are fines for not filing. AGENDA ITEM VI. PLAN ADMNISTRATOR COMMENTS – Jim Carnicella Jim Carnicella stated he had no other comments. General Employees Pension Board Quarterly Meeting, May 9, 2007 Page 6 of 6 AGENDA ITEM VII. COMMENTS FROM TRUSTEES Trustee Hendrix inquired about an audit and stated that he would like to see it on the next agenda. Trustee Grafton stated that this has been on the last several agendas and was put off but was not included on this agenda. Trustee Wagner asked to have this put this on the next agenda. AGENDA ITEM VIII. SET AGENDA FOR NEXT MEETING Not Addressed. AGENDA ITEM IX. ADJOURN There being no other business, the meeting was adjourned at 12:13 p.m. Respectfully submitted by Approved by: Debbie Bertling ______________________________ HR Analyst Russell Wagner, Chairman