2024-02-25-RB-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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Minutes of the January 25, 2024 Retirement Board meeting: Present: Robert Cunha, Joseph Foley, Alan Fields, Frederick Weiss, Carolyn Kosnoff, Michelle Malone and Jim Condon Absent: None The Lexington Retirement Board met remotely through Zoom tele-conferencing. The Town Clerks Office posted the meeting, which included the information for any interested party to join the call. Robert Cunha, Joseph Foley, Alan Fields, Frederick Weiss, Carolyn Kosnoff, James Condon and Michelle Malone were present for this meeting. Robert Cunha called the meeting to order at 8:33 am. The Board accepted the 013124 Warrant and the January payroll. The December minutes were reviewed and approved, as well as the financial cashbooks. Robert Cunha reviewed the December agenda with all Board members and staff in attendance. It was noted we received a distribution from Fidelity ContraFund on 01/22/24 in the amount of $19,782.75. Robert Cunha reviewed information regarding the Robert Magarian situation, based on a recent email from Attorney Michael Sacco. The judge in the case would like more time to review the facts and monies owed back to the system. At 8:38 am, Robert Cunha made a motion to allow the Law Offices of Michael Sacco move forward with the court system to resolve the matter. This motion was seconded by Joseph Foley, and unanimously approved by Fred Weiss, Carolyn Kosnoff, and Alan Fields. Stephen MacLellan and Henry Juang presented the Meketa update at 8:42 am. The portfolio balance as of December 31, 2023 was $220,765,738.00, up $10.02m from November. Domestic equity class finished up Q4 at a positive 11.8%. This particular class has been the main driver for success in 2023. Contrafund and KAR have done well for the portfolio. Contrafund was up 39% YTD, while KAR boasted a 23.5%. Rhumbline was strong as well, up 26% YTD. International equities continued to struggle, but made some headway to close out the year. China is still struggling with rules and regulations surrounding markets. Third Quarter performance did not fare well, however, Q4 actually showed promise. Acadian and Driehaus. Both were up over 7.5% QTD. Matthews Pacific has not done so well. This fund is down 4.7% over the 1 year. The past month and quarter, it has posted in the positive, just shy of 2%. Our Cash holding is $15.7m as of 12/31/23 and yielded 5.4% for the year, which was a bit of a surprise. Stephen and Henry began the Private Debt Manager discussion at 8:55 am. The Board was updated that 26 managers responded to the RFP. Meketa eliminated 10 of them after research. The reasoning for excluding them was primarily related to their investment strategies, which were not diversified enough and not meeting the minimum criteria for investment. They combed through the remaining 16 and presented the top 3 of interest. Golub, Neuberger Berman, and PIMCO are the clear choices heading into discussion. Robert Cunha made a motion to select Golub and commit $7m, which was seconded by Frederick Weiss, and unanimously approved by Joseph Foley, Alan Fields, and Carolyn Kosnoff. They will wait for Meketa to provide more information from PIMCO before deciding the next move. The Board requested Golub attend the February Board meeting to seek direct information. Jim Condon will be in contact with Golub for the invitation.