HomeMy WebLinkAbout2020-12-22-RB-min Recap of the December 22, 2020 Retirement Board meeting:
The Lexington Retirement Board met remotely through Zoom tele-conferencing during the Covid-19
Pandemic. The Town Clerks Office posted the meeting,which included the information for any
interested party to join the call. All Board members were present for this meeting. Chairman Robert
Cunha called the meeting to order at 8:30 am.
The Board accepted the 123120 Warrant and the December payroll. The November minutes and
October financials were reviewed and approved.
Bob Cunha reviewed the December agenda will all Board members and staff in attendance. He
informed the Board he would depart the meeting at 9:00 am. Joe Foley would then chair the meeting.
The meeting began with an update on the Robert Magarian overpayment issue. The Retirement Office
is yet to hear from Mr. Magarian or his attorney. Our attorney, Michael Sacco, has reached out to them,
but has not heard back. The Retirement Office will check with Michael Sacco to see if we should send a
Certified Letter to Mr. Magarian to inform him we will be stopping his pension until a resolution can be
determined. The stoppage would begin with the January 29, 2021 pension payment.
All Board members received PERAC Memo#27 regarding Board training for Q1 2021 via email. Bob
Cunha advised members to read and review the schedule of webinars that will be available in the
coming months.
The Board discussed the RFP search underway to replace Dan Sherman Actuarial Services. Four viable
candidates were named and reviewed; Segal, KMS, Stone, and Foster& Foster. Bob Cunha motioned to
narrow the search to two or three candidates. This motion was seconded by Joe Foley and unanimously
approved by Fred Weiss and Alan Fields. The next step will be to interview the viable candidates via
Zoom in early 2021. Then, the Board will be given scoring sheets to evaluate the candidates before a
final decision can be determined.
It was noted we received a call notice from Angelo Gordon for$375,000.00, due 12/23/20. A
distribution for$48,374.00 from White Oak was received on 12/18/20.
Henry Jaung, Stephen MacLellan, and Thomas Dunleavy presented the Meketa portfolio update at 8:45.
The portfolio balance as of November 30, 2020 was $198,127,102.00, up$12.5m from the prior month.
Heading into December 2020,the YTD performance is up 9.1%. November was a strong month for the
portfolio. Our US Equity holdings continue to be the main driver of success; posting a YTD of 21.9%.
Fidelity Contrafund and KAR continue to perform outstanding for the portfolio. The Real Estate Asset
holdings have been fully dissolved into the cash fund. Meketa and the Board entertained some ideas
about portfolio changes in early 2021. We continue to be overweight in Domestic Equities. Currently
holding public equities at 60%. It is doing excellent, but not sure how long its run will last in 2021.
Henry mentioned maybe adding a private debt manager to the portfolio. With a high cash balance
approaching$22.3m, it might be time to deploy some of that cash into another investment sector. Fred
suggested maybe looking into the fixed income bucket. The portfolio remains light in that sector. Bonds
were discussed briefly,yet Alan had reservations about it. The fear of interest rates going up in 2021
could put a dent in our portfolio. Henry concluded that we should consider an equity class restructure
for 2021 and discuss in more detail at the January& February Board meetings.
Joseph Foley motioned to adjourn the meeting at 9:45 am,which was seconded by Alan Fields, and
approved by Fred Weiss. Carolyn Kosnoff was not present for this meeting.
Future Board meeting dates announced: 01/28/2021, 02/25/2021, and 03/25/2021.
The next Retirement Board meeting will be held on Thursday,January 28, 2021 at 8:30 am. The meeting
will be held remotely via Zoom, Inc.