HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-02-27-RB-min Minutes of the February 27, 2020 Retirement Board meeting:
Present: Bob Cunha, Joe Foley, Fred Weiss, Carolyn Kosnoff, Marguerite Oliva and Jim
Condon
Absent: Alan Fields
The Board accepted the 022820 Warrant and the February payroll. The January minutes were
reviewed and approved, as well as the cashbooks for December 2019.
Bob Cunha reviewed the February agenda with the Board members and staff in attendance. He
noted Vanguard received a transfer from the Town for $187,500.00. There was no new
information regarding Ryan Bugler and Joseph O'Leary to report.
The medical panel results for Donald LaConte were reviewed prior to the Board meeting.
PERAC has approved the Accidental Disability Retirement case based on the results. Bob
Cunha made a motion to approve Mr. LaConte for Accidental Disability benefits, which was
seconded by Joe Foley, and approved by Fred Weiss.
The Board discussed voting on the Cost of Living Adjustment(COLA) effective 07/01/2020.
The COLA would remain at 3% of the first $14,000.00 for all retirees. Bob Cunha motioned to
approve this 3% increase, which was seconded by Joe Foley, and approved by Fred Weiss.
Board members were reminded of upcoming trainings for Q1 in 2020. Each were advised of
how many credits are required by a certain date.
Steve McLellan and Tom Dunleavy presented the Meketa update. The portfolio balance as of
January 31, 2020 was $185,480,226.00. YTD is down slightly at-0.2%. Most equity markets
are performing flat. The Coronavirus is starting to create jitters within the market. Outlook for
futures could create major selloffs and a downward spiral in the market performance. Matthews
Asia has been down, but the damage was limited. Wellington is holding their own, posting a
positive 1.5% for January. Fidelity and KAR were also positive for the month.
Tom Dunleavy gave a brief overview on the Non-Core Infrastructure Search and Respondent
review. The portfolio currently has no private infrastructure investments. Our Wellington EA's
are primarily public infrastructure companies. He reviewed the four respondents. One was rated
as highly advantageous, while the other three were rated as advantageous. BlackRock Global
was rated highly advantageous based on their organization structure, investment process, fees,
and the investment management teams experience with renewable power projects.
Sarah Duncan and Alex Ryer presented the RhumbLine review. RhumbLine currently holds
$67.1B in assets under management. Domestic Equity, Domestic Fixed income, and
International Equity are the three major classes of investing. Some of their top 10 holdings
include Apple, Microsoft, and Amazon. The new product highlights are RhumbLine are
focusing on MSCI US and World markets. Alex stated that our portfolio with RhumbLine is up
12.88% since inception 2013. Market value on the portfolio was $20.9M as of January 31, 2020.
Julie Snaman and Charles Johnson presented the Acadian review. Acadian International is a
$99B All-Cap Fund of assets under management. Lexington Retirement has a market value of
$18M within Acadian. They currently have a staff of 390 employees worldwide. Just over 100
of these employees work directly in the Investment Team sector. They focus on analytics, equity
research, portfolio management, and implementation. Their investment research always
accounts for changing market dynamics. The outlook for 2020 was considered unknown at this
meeting. The trade war, coronavirus, and Apple's manufacturing issues were the main points for
concern. Little growth is expected in China due to quarantines at factories. The consumption tax
in Japan will slow down growth in that region. Acadians overall portfolio remains in line with
the index through these turbulent times. They plan to remain vigilant in the coming weeks and
months with all these events going on worldwide.
Fossil Fuels exposure remains at 4.1%, which is lower than the 4.4%reported the past few
months of 2019.
Future Board meeting dates: 3/26/2020, 4/30/2020, 5/28/2020 and 6/25/2020.
Bob Cunha motioned to adjourn the meeting at 9:45 am, which was seconded by Joe Foley, and
approved by Carolyn Kosnoff and Fred Weiss.
The next Retirement Board meeting will be held on Thursday, March 26, 2020 in Cary Memorial
Library at 8:00 am.
ABSENT
Robert Cunha, Chairman Alan Fields, Appointed Member
Carolyn Kosnoff, Ex Officio Member Joseph Foley, Elected Member
Frederick Weiss, Appointed Member