HomeMy WebLinkAbout2023-04-27-RB-minMinutes of the April 27, 2023 Retirement Board meeting:
Present: Robert Cunha, Joseph Foley, Alan Fields, Frederick Weiss, Carolyn Kosnoff, Michelle Malone
and Jim Condon
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. Chairman Robert Cunha called the meeting to order at 8:30 am.
The Board accepted the 033023 Warrant and the March payroll. The February minutes and were
reviewed and approved. The January financials were not available at the time of meeting.
Robert Cunha reviewed the March agenda with all Board members and staff in attendance.
The Lexington Retirement Board was presented new information regarding the matter involving Robert
Magarian. Both parties intend to proceed before the Division of Administrative Law Appeals. The
Lexington Retirement Board has been directed by Acting Chief Admin. Magistrate to file a memorandum
responding to the memorandum submitted by counsel and setting forth facts and law in favor of its
position. It shall be due on or prior to August 6, 2023. The Law Offices of Michael Sacco will handle the
request.
Michelle Malone advised the Board regarding cost of furniture and scheduling. At this time, the
Retirement office is waiting to hear back from the Facilities Department on scheduling.
Jennifer Mayo submitted the necessary paperwork to request a buyback of service. Ms. Mayo is
requesting to purchase one (1) year and eleven (11) months of service. She does meet the proper
criteria for this request. Robert Cunha made a motion to approve this request, which was seconded by
Joseph Foley, and unanimously approved by Carolyn Kosnoff, Fred Weiss, and Alan Fields. The approval
letter will be sent out to the member with instructions for payment.
Michelle Malone spoke briefly on the Acceptance of the Town’s Credit Card policy.
It was noted the Vanguard balance on March 31, 2023 was $24,675,757.62
No new update on Fossil Fuels.
All Board members were reminded of their responsibility to participate in 2nd Quarter Board Training
webinars being offered by PERAC. Memo #10 provides a list of training webinars available.
Stephen MacLellan presented the Meketa update at 8:40 am. The portfolio balance as of March 31,
2023 was $199,302,695.00, up $1.7% from February. The quarter still remains volatile for most asset
classes as monetary policy expectations and high profile bank failures continue. US equity markets had
a decent rally in March. The Russell 1000 Growth was up 14.4% for the 1st Quarter. Foreign Equity
returns rose 2.5% in March and 8.5% for the 1st Qtr. Emerging market equities responded well with the
optimism over the reopening of China’s economy. The Real Estate class continues run flat over the past
month. Contrafund, KAR, and Rhumbline each had a positive March to help the portfolio. Acadian
continues to lag, but will make its way back. Wellington Opportunistic is doing well, having posted a
6.8% for the month. White Oak Summit Fund continues to post negative figures for this year. Stephen
will look into this and report back to the Board.
Stephen briefed the Board on the Global Tactical Asset Allocation RFP’s. Meketa received three
responses from two managers, Wellington Opportunistic & Enduring, as well as GMO. He has advised
the Board to review the respondent info inside the presentation deck. He mentioned that Wellington
strategies have worked well for our portfolio. As for GMO, Stephen mentioned they are well established
in Boston and work in emerging markets and valuations. The investment process uses a quantitative
approach that manages short & long term exposures in over 50 global equity, bond and commodity
markets using exchange traded futures and forward foreign exchange contracts. He concluded GMO has
one of the lowest rate of returns over the 3/5/10 year periods. It is a decent strategy to use, but you
would be in for a long haul. Mr. MacLellan wrapped up his presentation at 9:03 am.
Peter Kenny and David Manzano presented the Golub review at 9:05 am. Peter began with a firm
update and overview of staff changes and promotions. He mentioned that the Lexington strategy Fund
9 has returned a 9.4% since inception date, and 7.5% in 2022. The fund will be finished soon and we
should take a distribution or roll into a new strategy in June.
David Manzano took over the presentation and provided an overview of our Q4 performance. Our GCP
International Funds did well, posting a 7.3% vs. Indices. His outlook for GCP fund is it will likely perform
reasonably well. Borrowers have adapted to the current financial environment. His only concerns are
inflation and supply issues are muddling growth. As for middle market lending, more than 60% of their
customers are repeat, just needing some add-on’s for financing. They have no big need to go out and
seek new customers. Peter and David wrapped the presentation at 9:28 am.
Jeff Kusmierz presented the RhumbLine review at 9:30 am. He went over the organization chart and
product highlights within the portfolio. They have launched and funded 16 new products since we last
met with RhumbLine. As of March 31, 2023, RhumbLine has $95.5b in Assets under Management. Their
client base is quite diverse. Clients include public funds, endowments, foundations, & corporations. Top
10 holdings include Apple, Microsoft, Amazon, and Nvidia. Jeff spoke of the portfolios characteristics,
mainly the number of holdings, which was 1,008 at the time of this meeting. As for performance, Q1
2023 is up 7.45% and up 18.52% over 3 years for the portfolio. He mentioned there aren’t any changes
on the way with strategy. Everything is working as it should be as of this meeting. He wrapped his
presentation at 9:40 am.
Robert Cunha made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:42 am, which was seconded by Joseph Foley,
and unanimously approved by Carolyn Kosnoff, Fred Weiss, and Alan Fields.
The next Retirement Board meeting will be held via Zoom on Thursday, May 25, 2023 at 8:30 am.
Fidelity is available to present.
_____________________________
Robert Cunha, Chairman Alan Fields, Appointed Member
Carolyn Kosnoff, Ex Officio Member Joseph Foley, Elected Member
Frederick Weiss, Appointed Member