05-03-2023 MinutesBOARD OF TRUSTEES QUARTERLY MEETING MINUTES
City Hall, Commission Chambers
1 N. Bluford Avenue, Ocoee, FL 34761
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TRUSTEES PRESENT: Gequita Cowan, Chair
Robert Briggs, Vice Chair
Patricia Gleason, Secretary
Gary Gleason
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OTHERS PRESENT: Pedro Herrera, Sugarman & Susskind (via Zoom)
Doug Lozen, Foster & Foster
Chrissy Stoker, Foster & Foster
Brad Hess, AndCo Consulting
Lynn Skinner, Salem Trust Company
Peter Rabbino, Legal Computer Consultants (via Zoom)
Jamie Croteau, Member of the Plan
Chuck Landers, Saltmarsh, Cleaveland & Gund
Patrick Smith, Saltmarsh, Cleaveland & Gund
1. Call to Order — Gequita "Gee" Cowan called the meeting to order at 10:22AM and a
quorum was determined.
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Approval of Minutes
a. January 26, 2023, quarterly meeting
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Briggs voting against as he was not present at the last meeting.
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6. New Business
a. Cybersecurity discussion — Peter Rabbino, Legal Computer Consultants (LCC)
i. Peter Rabbino commented the Department of Labor (DOL) had issued
requirements for cybersecurity and his firm had created a questionnaire
that correlated with these requirements, Peter commented the
questionnaire could be distributed to the Board's vendors to investigate if
they were following proper guidelines and if any remediation was needed.
ii. Pedro Herrera commented his office recommended this as a matter of best
practice though it was not a legal requirement. Peter Rabbino commented
LCC had a fiduciary responsibility to keep client data secure.
iii. Chuck Landers asked if the questionnaire would • any specific
protocols that someone could access and use. Peter Rabbino commented
they did • publish •- protocols, and vendors would • •- attesting
to whether they were following the requested items. Peter commented they
did • •• •
iv. r"•• Briggs asked if this service was being proposed as an addendum
to their legal services contract, Pedro Herrera commented LCC served as
his firm's IT company, • this had nothing to •• with his contract • his
services and would be an engagement with LCC and specifically for the
purpose • •"
v. Gee • stated for the record the Board agreed to hear the proposal,
but they did not need to make a decision today.
vi. Robert Briggs commented if they felt there was a need for cybersecurity
they should •• • for bid and ••^ the •!•! up to • vendors.
a. Salem Trust Company, Lynn Skinner, Fund Custodian
i. Pensioner portal
1 . Lynn Skinner commented Salem Trust was offering a pensioner
portal to retirees as a service enhancement which was free of
charge for the Board and for the retirees. Lynn noted the service
was optional for retirees to use if the Board chose to sign on.
Z Lynn Skinner reviewed the optional features that were available.
Lynn commented it was up to the Board what features were turned
on, but most boards and attorneys she worked with opted not to
allow retirees to change bank account information through the
pensioner portal, as this process needed to be done through the
plan administrator for legal reasons.
1 Lynn Skinner stated the pensioner portal was secure and required
multifactor authentication for each login session,
4. Lynn Skinner reviewed the implementation process, commenting
she would work with the plan administrator to obtain the information
needed and Salem Trust would send a mailing to all retirees.
5. Robert Briggs inquired about the process for retirees to change their
direct deposit information currently, Chrissy Stoker commented
retirees could change direct deposit information by completing a
form and providing verification of their account ownership by a
voided check or a letter from their bank on the bank's letterhead.
Chrissy commented money from the pension fund must be
deposited into an account owned by a plan participant or a
beneficiary.
6. Lynn Skinner commented any retirees who signed on to the portal
would no longer receive paper advises. Lynn handed out a sample
letter that would be mailed to retirees.
7, The Board discussed the optional services and agreed they should
allow retirees to complete address and tax election changes only
and not allow online direct deposit changes.
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second by Ga_q Gleason, motion carried 4-0.
b. AndCo Consulting, Brad Hess, Investment Consultant
i. Quarterly Report as of March 31, 2023
1. Brad Hess gave an overview of the market environment over the
quarter.
2. Brad Hess reviewed the schedule of investable assets over the last
10 years, noting an investment gain of $25 million,
3. Brad Hess reviewed the asset allocation compliance and the
underweights and overweights,
4. Brad Hess reminded the Board they put in a $1 million redemption
request to the ARA Core Property Fund last year, but since real
estate was not very liquid, they received redemptions in smaller
distributions. Brad commented they had received approximately
$134,000 so far.
5. Brad Hess recommended the Board to turn off dividend
reinvestments from the ARA Core Property Fund temporarily, as
this would give them additional income each quarter while waiting
for more of their redemption,
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carried 4-0.
6. The Market Value of Assets as of March 31, 2023, was
$45,085,219. Brad Hess noted as of yesterday the value of th,�
Fund was approximately $45.8 million.
7, The total fund net returns for the quarter were 3.10%. Trailing
returns for the 3, 5, and 10-year periods were 9.96%, 5.51% and
6.73%, respectively. Since inception (4/1/04), net returns were
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& Brad Hess reviewed the current small and mid -cap funds and
commented he was going to recommend they liquidatethe Fidelity
Extended Market Index (FSMAX) fund and use the proceeds to buy
an S&P500 index fund to get them more large cap exposure.
Brad Hess reviewed the financial reconciliation for the quarter and
discussed the cash flows.
10. Brad Hess reviewed the performance of each manager.
11 By consensus, the Board elected to table the asset allocation study
until the August meeting due to time constraints.
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Gleason; motion carried by 4-0.
i. Pedro Herrera reviewed House Bill 3 which had been passed into law a
amended the definition of a fiduciary to provide that any investme
decisions be made based on pecuniary factors only and no oth
considerations, such as environmental, social, or governmental ("ESG
considerations. Pedro commented he was waiting for guidance from th
State for how this would be implemented, though they Would need
amend the Investment Policy Statement. Pedro commented there woulle
be some additional reporting requirements and they would need to ado
certain language in any new investment manager agreements.
ii. Pedro Herrera reminded the Board of the annual Form I filing requiremenj
C Saltmarsh, Cleaveland & Gund, Chuck Landers/Patrick Smith, Plan Auditors
i. Audited financial statements as of September 30, 2022
1 . Chuck Landers introduced himself, commenting he was present
with Patrick Smith who was the audit manager, Chuck thanked
Foster & Foster, Salem Trust, and Pedro Herrera for assisting with
the audit,
2Chuck Landers referred directly to the opinion in the Independent
Auditor's Report, stating, In our opinion the accompanying financial
statements present fairly� in all materials respects, information
regarding the fiduciary net position of thePlan as of September 30,
2022, and 2021, and the changes of fiduciary net position for the
years then ended in accordance with accounting principles
generally accepted in the United States of America."
3, Robert Briggs asked if GASB had any new protocol. Chuck Landers
reviewed GASB 96.
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second by Patricia Gleason; motion carried 4-0.
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11. Chairperson's Repo
a. Newsletter
i. Gee Cowan requested the Board to approve reimbursement to the Gity of
Ocoee for the cost of copying and mailing the newsletter to retirees. The
amounts were $296.46 for mailing and $157.97 for copying, for a total of
$454,43. Gee added they should put money aside for this going forward.
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motion carried 4-0.
b. Insurance deductions from pension
L Gee Cowan commented she was working on getting retirees who were still
on the City of Ocoee's insurance plan set up to have their premiums
deducted directly from their pension payments instead of paying the city
directly, Lynn Skinner commented she would work with Chrissy Stoker to
get this set up.
ii. Pedro Herrera commented the Board should give consensus to authorize
tis new administrative practice. By consensus, the Board agreed to move
forward with setting up insurance deductions from retirees' monthly
benefits, for those retirees who were still on the City's insurance,
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Go ui Cowa Chair
August 2, 2023