HomeMy WebLinkAbout2021-03-25-RB-min Minutes of the March 25, 2021 Retirement Board meeting:
Present: Robert Cunha,Joseph Foley, Fred Weiss, Carolyn Kosnoff, Marguerite Oliva, and Jim Condon
Absent: Alan Fields
NEW MEMBERS: (9)Nicholas Morris, Marc Gilles, Justin Brooks, Jared O'Brien, Jack Sharer,Police
Officers; Michael Prescott, Truck Driver; Todd Higgins, Meter Reader; Robert Soparkar, Custodian;
Grace Germanetto, HR Specialist;
RETIREMENTS: (1) Michael Tuomi, LPD Lieutenant, 02/26/2021
DEATHS: (1) Lisa George-Cox, Student Support Instr. 03/09/2021 (active member)
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 033121 Warrant and the March payroll. The February minutes and January
financials were reviewed and approved.
Robert Cunha reviewed the March agenda with all Board members and staff in attendance. Alan Fields
was absent from the meeting. It was noted the Board received a distribution from Monroe on 2/26/21
for$335,107.00. Vanguard received a transfer from the Town for$187,500.00 on 3/10/21. Also, a
White Oak distribution was received in the amount of$30,881.00
The Retirement Board has yet to hear from Robert Magarian, or his attorney, regarding the
overpayment issue. The Board will continue to garnish Mr. Magarian's pension payments. He will retain
his health and dental coverage.
Pending a liability request from the State Retirement Board,John Carnell will be eligible to purchase
police cadet service from 1989-1992.
The Board members were reminded to pursue 1St Quarter 2021 educational course credits via PROSPER.
All courses are being offered online due to the ongoing Pandemic.
Henry Jaung and Stephen MacLellan presented the Meketa portfolio update at 8:40 am. The portfolio
balance as of February 28, 2021 is$209,289,544.00, up$4m from the prior month. The economy is
slowly rebounding from the Pandemic, and our portfolio positioning remains solid. It continues to
outperform the PRIT Core to date. Domestic equity has seen a slight uptick the past month. Henry
cautions we are still overweight in this sector. International equities remained stable, holding around
3%for QTD. He also mentioned we continue to carry a high Cash balance and look to the future for a
possible acquisition. One downfall has been the Global Equity Asset class. Recently, it has been posting
a negative .8%for last month and negative .4%for the quarter. Henry then discussed the ongoing Large
Cap search for the portfolio. Meketa narrowed the search down to three (3) highly advantageous firms;
Eagle Capital, Fidelity, and Polen Capitol to present the Board. It was noted Eagle and Polen are more
concentrated with roughly 25-30 clients each, Fidelity holds a higher client portfolio. They are working
with hundreds of clients, making them much more diversified. Their top 10 holdings represent almost
50%of the entire portfolio. They manage over$3.6 trillion in Assets Under Management. Eagle and
Polen are in the$30 billion ballpark for AUM. Despite the fee structure where Polen is most
advantageous, Henry feels Fidelity still delivers the best overall value for our portfolio. Lexington has
had a long standing relationship with Fidelity and has performed well for the portfolio consistently.
Board member Frederick Weiss then made a motion to retain Fidelity Contrafund, as well as Rhumbline.
The motion was seconded by Robert Cunha and unanimously approved by Carolyn Kosnoff and Joseph
Foley. Frederick Weiss left the meeting after this vote due to another commitment.
Colin Edgar presented the Stone Consulting kickoff meeting introduction at 9:10 am. Both Colin Edgar
and Larry Stone formally introduced themselves to the Board. Colin briefly explained the projects that
Stone will be working on for the Lexington Retirement System through December 31, 2027. Such
projects will include full actuarial valuations as of January 2021, 2023, 2025, and 2027. Partial valuations
will be conducted as of January 2022, 2024, and 2026. Government Accounting Standards Board (GASB)
Fiscal Year reporting statements will be issued throughout the contract from 2021-2027. Colin went into
detail regarding what will be required to supply a detailed actuarial evaluation and GASB Statement.
Larry Stone will look into assumptions and allocation rates. He plans to work-up scenarios using
assumption rates of 7.5%and trending downward to 7.1%. It was requested to see what the funding
schedule will show for 2028, but not further out. Larry did request access to the PTG retirement system
to extract data. Carolyn Kosnoff informed Colin and Larry to be mindful of future step increases for
employees and retiree COLA's. Also,the potential for the building of a new Lexington High School and
how allocations should be handled. Stone Consulting wrapped up the kickoff meeting at 9:55 am.
Fossil Fuel remains unchanged as of this meeting. Exposure is at 2.6%. A new update could be
available at the next Board meeting.
Robert Cunha motioned to adjourn the meeting at 10:05 am, which was seconded by Joseph
Foley, and unanimously approved by Carolyn Kosnoff.
The next Retirement Board meeting will be held via Zoom on Thursday, April 29, 2021 at 8:30
am. Melissa Moesman will present the Fidelity update.
** ABSENT **
Robert Cunha, Chairman Alan Fields, Appointed Member
Carolyn Kosnoff, Ex Officio Member Joseph Foley, Elected Member
Frederick Weiss, Appointed Member