HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-10-24-RB-min Minutes of the October 24, 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 8:30 am.
The Board accepted the 103124 Warrant and the October payroll. The September minutes were
reviewed and approved, as well as the August cashbooks.
Robert Cunha reviewed the October agenda with all Board members and staff in attendance.
Christina Severe-Berg submitted a request to purchase her military service of one (1)year and four (4)
months. The application and DD214 were submitted for consideration. Robert Cunha made a motion to
accept the military buyback of service,which was seconded by Frederick Weiss, and unanimously
approved by Carolyn Kosnoff,Joseph Foley, and Alan Fields.
Jim Condon presented the Annual Benefit Verification program. He stated all retirees are in compliance
for the year,with the exception of Robert Staples. Mr. Staples will be returning the form soon. He has
contacted our office and spoke with Mr. Condon. Robert lives in the hurricane battered town of
Ashville, NC where mail should resume soon.
Stephen MacLellan presented the Meketa Update at 8:45 am. He mentioned September was another
decent month for the portfolio. Indications of future interest rate cuts helped fuel the market, along
with declining inflation pressures. Some high notes from the 3rd quarter 2024: US Equities continued to
rally, up 6.2%. Emerging market stocks were up 8.7%, and surprisingly, China's policy makers rolled out
a significant stimulus package to support equity prices and reduce funding rates. This drove the MSCI
China equity index to rally 23.9% in September and 23.5%for the entire 3rd quarter.
Stephen gave the performance update as of September 30, 2024. The portfolio balance as of
09/30/2024 was$256,193,587.00, up$5m from the previous month. YTD the portfolio is up 16.4%and
25.7%over the 1 year. Domestic equity slowed a bit in September,yet up 23.4%YTD. International
equity is slowly on the rise, up 3% last month, and up 5%QTD. The Fixed Income class continues to run
somewhat flat, however Steve mentioned it should work for us in future months. Fidelity Contrafund
continued its run of excellence for the portfolio. YTD it is up 31.3%and 46.3%over the 1 year.
Stephen spoke briefly regarding Wellington Enduring Assets. He wanted to inform the Board that one of
our portfolio managers,Tim Casaletto, is transferring out from the Enduring Asset team to the Dividend
Growth team on 01/01/2025. Tim has been partnered with our senior portfolio manager,Tom Levering
for several years. Stephen then spoke of Monroe Capital selling 75%of the company to Wendell. The
two will operate business as usual. New managers will be added to existing ones. No clients will see any
changes in the way strategies for investing are handled. His presentation wrapped up at 9:00 am.
Jason Pomatta from Kayne Anderson Rudnick(KAR)give his presentation at 9:01 am. He spoke briefly
about the firm and their philosophy. KAR has been in the business now for 40 years, having been
founded back in 1984. KAR operates with 23 Equity Investment Professionals handling$69.8 billion in
AUM. They operate a disciplined and repeatable investment process that focuses on quality businesses
with a high cash flow. KAR prefers companies that can handle the good & bad times in market cycles
over the course of a few years. By operating in such a way,they believe it will achieve excess returns
over a complete market cycle. KAR aims to achieve returns above the Russell 2500 Index. Jason went
on to explain their top performers. Those are RE and Utilities. The utilities sector was up 44.83%over
the one year. He went on to explain to the Board the annual performance of our portfolio on page 12 of
the presentation, then wrapped up his speech at 9:30 am.
Robert Cunha made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:32 am,which was seconded by Joseph Foley,
and unanimously approved by Carolyn Kosnoff,Alan Fields, and Frederick Weiss.
The next Retirement Board meeting will be held on Thursday, November 21, 2024 at 8:30 via Zoom.
PRIT will present at 9:00 am.
Robert Cunha, Chairman Alan Fields, Appointed Member
Carolyn Kosnoff, Ex Officio Member Joseph Foley, Elected Member
Frederick Weiss, Appointed Member