HomeMy WebLinkAbout2024-12-19-RB-min Minutes of the December 19, 2024 Retirement Board meeting:
Present: Robert Cunha,Joseph Foley, Frederick Weiss,Alan Fields, Carolyn Kosnoff(8:50 am), Michelle
Malone &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, Frederick Weiss,Alan Fields,James Condon and Michelle Malone were present for
this meeting. Carolyn Kosnoff will attend later in the session. Robert Cunha called the meeting to order
at 8:30 am.
The Board accepted the 123124 Warrant and the December payroll. The November minutes were
reviewed and approved, as well as the October cashbooks.
Robert Cunha reviewed the December agenda with all Board members and staff in attendance. There
were four(4) retirement filings this month. Robert Marcin will retire on 01/06/25; however,the Agenda
had him listed as Robert Martin. This has been corrected.
The Matthews Asia Fund final redemption of$2,226,282.15 was received on December 17, 2024.
Neuberger Berman Private Debt Fund V distribution of$45,750 was received on 11/27/24, and they
made a Capital Call on 12/10/24 for$350,000.
The matter regarding Jason Morey and 91A filing with PERAC is still in process with Sandra King.
Ryan Bugler and his 91A filings have been completed and approved by PERAC.
Christina DeMambro ADR case. Her first medical visit with a doctor is scheduled for 01/03/2025. She
needs to been seen by three (3) individual doctors for the matter to proceed.
Stephen Papia ADR case is working on paperwork to finalize doctor appointments.
Padraig Daly is filing for an ADR with the Town. He is a Lexington Firefighter who was injured on the job
and has had several shoulder surgeries. Robert Cunha made a motion for a medical panel to be set up,
which was seconded by Joseph Foley and unanimously approved by Fred Weiss and Alan Fields. Carolyn
Kosnoff was not in attendance for this vote.
Dale Deane will be applying for an Ordinary Disability. She is in the early stages of Alzheimer's disease
and unable to continue working as an Administrative Assistant with the School Department.
Edward Casey Jr. will be in contact with the Retirement Board regarding his disability selection based on
his situation.
Joseph Foley opened the discussion regarding the Retirement Boards COLA base. He spoke of the
potential of raising the base from 15K to 16K,while still using 3%of that base. As of this meeting,
retirees are granted $450.00 per year(37.50/month) COLA. Stone Consulting will be contacted to
evaluate the feasibility. This discussion and vote will be taken up at a later meeting.
Karen Tyler requested a Military Buyback of one (1)year and six(6) months of service. As of this
meeting,the Retirement Board has yet to receive her starting salary to calculate the bill. Robert Cunha
made a motion to accept the buyback request to purchase military service,which was seconded by
Joseph Foley, and unanimously approved by Alan Fields and Frederick Weiss.
Michelle Malone spoke briefly to the Board regarding a service contract with ABL Tech. This company
provides death match services to a variety of private businesses and public service entities. They would
provide us updates of Lexington retirees who pass away in a timely matter. Robert Cunha feels the size
of our retiree base doesn't not warrant such a service. The Lexington Retirement Board receives notice
of a retiree passing in a timely matter. The use of our Annual Benefit Verification program is tool used
to be notified of a death.
At 8:50 am, Carolyn Kosnoff joined the Retirement Board meeting.
Steve MacLellan presented the Meketa update at 8:52 am. He spoke of the US equities rallying back in
November from a subpar performance in October. Most major equity and bond markets had declined in
October. After month-end reporting of performance in our portfolio,the Fed Reserve cut its policy rate
by another 0.25%. Heading into 2025, there will be fewer rate cuts than projected according to the Fed
Reserve. This could be in part to what the future holds with fiscal policy change under a new President
taking office in January. US equities have taken a negative turn over the past two weeks. Outside of the
United States, markets are down 6-8%since the end of September. Our Matthews Asia fund has been
redeemed,which turned out to be a bonus. The cash holding in our portfolio makes for a great
defensive mechanism heading into 2025.
Steve then gave the performance update as of November 30, 2024. The portfolio balance as of
11/30/24 was$265,214,329.00, up $7.8m from the previous month. It is up 18.9%YTD, and 23.2%over
1 year. Domestic Equities rebounded from a down month in October, up 5.9%for November.
International Equities were down for a second month, down 0.4%, and down 4.2%QTD. It is been a
tough few months, but International remains up 9.1%YTD. The Global Equity fund remains positive, up
3.6% last month, and posting a 22.6%YTD. Our Cash balance is$13.1m. Fossil Fuels remains unchanged
at approximately 1.4%of the total fund being invested.
Alan Fields, Fred Weiss, and Steve MacLellan held a brief discussion on Private debt. Conversation
revolved around too much in US equity vs. International equity and could we deploy capital into private
debt fund. Just not sure if$36m too much in US equity and $16m not enough in International? A lot of
uncertainty with a new US President taking office in January 2025. Alan made a point that if the US
markets go down,the International certainly would not go up. Golub has been working well in the
portfolio. Neuberger Berman should work well for us now that funds are being deployed. Steve
mentioned Meketa could do a search for another debt manager, and Fred mentioned if they did, it
would have to be a high quality firms. This discussion will be reevaluated in January or February 2025.
Robert Cunha made a motion to adjourn the meeting at 9:50 am,which was seconded by Joseph Foley,
and unanimously approved by Carolyn Kosnoff, Frederick Weiss, and Alan Fields.
The next Retirement Board meeting will be held on Thursday,January 30, 2025 at 8:30 am via Zoom.
Robert Cunha, Chairman Alan Fields, Appointed Member
Carolyn Kosnoff, Ex Officio Member Joseph Foley, Elected Member
Frederick Weiss, Appointed Member