HomeMy WebLinkAbout2018-05-24-RB-min Minutes of the May 24, 2018 Retirement Board meeting:
Present: Robert Cunha, Joe Foley, Alan Fields, Frederick Weiss, Carolyn Kosnoff, Marguerite Oliva and
Jim Condon
NEW MEMBERS: (9) Anthony Serio, Assistant Director; Ross Morrow, Asst. Town Engineer; Michelle
Bellavia, Instructional Asst.; Jenny Diez, Catherine Horan, S.S.I's; Kelly Cutone-Clair, Municipal Clerk;
Scott Bouthiette, Todd Laramie, Residential Inspectors; Scott Pedraza, Custodian.
DEATHS: Alice Stevens, survivor of Edward Stevens, 5/08/18
RETIREMENTS: (5)Roberta Wanyo, Admin. Asst. 6/30/18; Ray Drapeau, Facilities Super., 6/1/18;
Patricia Sullivan, Fed. Program Coord. for LHA, 7/9/18; Agnes Pallaver, Library Associate, 6/7/18; Carl
Valente, Town Manager, 8/3/18
The Board accepted the 053118 Warrant and May payroll. The April minutes were reviewed and
approved, as well as the cashbooks for March 2018.
Bob Cunha began the meeting regarding the RFP's that were received and reviewed for the retirement
board's legal counsel for the next seven years. The Law Offices of Michael Sacco and Murphy, Hesse,
Toomey& Lehane were the two candidates on the agenda for discussion. After review, Bob made a
motion to accept the services of Attorney Michael Sacco over Murphy, Hesse, Toomey& Lehane. The
motion was made at 8:05 AM, seconded by Fred Weiss, and approved by Joe Foley to continue with the
law services of Attorney Michael Sacco. Alan Fields and Carolyn Kosnoff were not present for the vote.
Marguerite spoke regarding the overpayments being made to ADR retirement recipient Mr. James J.
O'Brien. Our office recently discovered Mr. O'Brien was being too much based on calculations done in
our office and at PERAC. There has been an overpayment made on the pension portion of Mr. O'Brien's
monthly payment. Beginning with the May 2018 pay, only the Annuity portion of his pension will be
paid. There is enough to cover his medical and dental insurance deductions each month. We will contact
the parties involved to set up a monetary plan to recoup the overage owed back to the Town. Mr. O'Brien
will owe roughly $7,000.00.
At 8:15 AM, the Board welcomed in Dan Sherman from Sherman Actuarial Services to present analysis
on appropriation forecasting/funding for the retirement system. He explained in detail the employee and
employer costs from 2016 to 2018 and out to 2020. The total normal cost percentage should remain
around 12.4%if all assumptions are met for 2020. He spoke about the employer appropriations under the
current funding schedule and the appropriation forecast out to 2024 with figures found on page 7 of his
presentation. Dan concluded we should not make changes to our funding schedule, and hold our
assumptions to 7.5%. When his office receives the new data from the town, he will analyze and report
back to us later in the year.
Henry Jaung and Steve McLellan presented the Meketa update. Despite a turbulent Is`quarter 2018, the
market is back on track. The U.S. economy and investments are strong and performing well. The
portfolio is up 1.4% through April with an overall balance of$170,653,379.00. Wellington Enduring
Assets performed well for us in April,posting 3.5%,which outperformed its benchmark. Henry feels
market performance will continue to perform well, even after the recent Federal Reserve report. Earnings
and expectations of the market should continue to rise in the coming months.
Steve McLellan gave an update on the RFP's for a new Senior Direct Lending Manager. Meketa was in
receipt of 12 RFP's on the closing date of May 18, 2018. It was more than they predicted to receive.
They are in the process of reviewing all prospective managers and hope to give us a brief update at the
June Board meeting. Review of the RFP's could begin as early as the July 26"'Board meeting.
Ed Schollmeyer and Mike Hickey presented the Fidelity Investment update. Mike began with a report of
the excellent 2017 end year returns. He mentioned Fidelity is up 9%thus far for 2018, despite some
earlier market turmoil. They remain committed to the Large Cap Growth. Companies like Facebook,
Disney, and Apple will continue to have multiyear earnings for the foreseeable future. They base it on
superior business models and shareholder capitol. Other technology companies in the portfolio will also
perform well due to solid cash flow and high returns. Mike spoke of Financials being a bit overweight
and they have been scaling back. Interest rates need to be watched closely going forward. Overall, the
banking sys 1-year forecast with Fidelity Contrafund is 39.6%,with the S&P 500 Index at 30.2%.
The William Blair fund is done liquidating the Enduring Assets. If future assets are needed,pulling from
Contrafund is the appropriate route. We have recently transferred 3,000,000.00 from Contrafund to the
State Street STIF account.
A motion was made by Joe Foley, seconded, and unanimously approved to adjourn the meeting at 9:55
AM.
The next Board Meeting will be held on Thursday June 28, 2018 at 8:00 AM in Cary Memorial Library.
Bladen Burns from FMI will attend this meeting.
Robert Cunha, Chairman Alan Fields, Appointed Member
Carolyn Kosnoff, Ex Officio Member Joseph Foley, Elected Member
Frederick Weiss, Appointed Member