Chairman Thomas Kelley called the meeting to order at 8:35 a.m. in the conference room of the Plymouth Retirement Office. Present Board members were Thomas Kelley, Lynne Barrett, Richard Manfredi and Shawn Duhamel. David Malaguti was absent. Also present were Debra Sullivan, Wendy Cherry, Anthony Tranghese from FIA and Atty. Michael Sacco.
Section I: Regular Business – Regular Meeting
Minutes:
Minutes dated January 28, 2011: Regular Board Meeting
Minutes dated January 28, 2011: Executive Session
Motion to approve minutes made by Mr. Manfredi; seconded by Ms. Barrett. Mr. Malaguti abstained from the vote, as he was absent from the January 28, 2011 Board meeting.
Warrants:
Warrant dated December 31, 2010: $1,989,412.02 & Trial Balance (unaudited)
Warrant dated January 31, 2011: $1,957,506.33 (Partial)
Warrant dated February 28, 2011: $2,167,756.35 (Partial)
Warrant dated March 31, 2011: $ 3,545.76 (Partial)
Motion to approve warrants made by Mr. Manfredi; seconded by Mr. Duhamel. Unanimously voted.
Public Comment: None
Section II: Solicitation & Correspondence:
PERAC Memo's:
The Board received the following PERAC Memos:
PERAC Memo #10/2011: Video Presentation: How to Prepare 2010 Annual Statement
PERAC Memo #11/2011: Data Verification for PERAC's 2010 Annual Report
Investment Correspondence:
The Board received the following investment correspondence:
Fiduciary Investment Advisors – Firm & Capital Markets Update
Fiduciary Investment Advisors – Perspectives on the Markets for 2011
Scott & Scott have sent the Town of Plymouth Retirement Board 4th Qtr. 2010 Quarterly Review Reports.
Wellington Management has sent the Town of Plymouth Retirement System's Fourth Qtr. 2010, Investment Review
Boston Advisors has sent the Plymouth Retirement System Investment Review for 4th Qtr. 2010.
Franklin Templeton Institutional has sent the Fourth Qtr. 2010 TIF-Foreign Equity Series Quarterly Report.
State Street Global Advisors – Performance & Analysis for as of January 31, 2011
MacKay Shields has announced that Gary Goodenough, head of Investment Grade Investment Team, will retire from the first in two years. This retirement will not impact the System's High Yield Fund with MacKay Shields.
Investments:
Floating Rate Bank Loan Investment:
Tony Tranghese of FIA was present and discussed a new investment strategy with the Board, Bank Loan Investments. Mr. Tranghese told the Board that interest rates have been extremely low and are expected to increase. Mr. Tranghese suggested to the Board that they issue an RFP for managers that invest in bank loans which are private held and usually held between three to five years with floating rate coupons. He told the Board that borrowers are usually below trade grade, but the loans are paid off first at 80% if the companies claim bankruptcy. Collateral is also collected immediately upon implementation of the loan because of the higher default rates.
These loans are typically made to large companies only. Mr. Tranghese advised the Board that a potential investment would be $5 million. He suggested that the Board use a criteria of $3 - $5 million on the bank loan RFP to limit the amount of responses.
Motion to approve issuance of RPF for Floating Rate Bank Loan investment manager by FIA made by Ms. Barrett; seconded by Mr. Malaguti. Unanimously voted.
McKay Shields:
Mr. Tranghese told the Board that MacKay Shields remains on watch list and has continued to under-perform the benchmark again in the last quarter of 2010 and beginning of 1st quarter 2011. Mr. Tranghese recommended that the Board look at other High Yield Fixed Income managers via RFP at this time.
Motion made by Ms. Barrett to have FIA issue RFP for High Yield Fixed Income investment managers; seconded by Mr. Manfredi. Unanimously voted.
Gross vs. Net of Fees:
The Board has received a response from PERAC regarding their inquiry about PERAC's reporting fees as gross, as opposed to the reporting of net of fees by the System. Mr. Tranghese said that the letter seemed vague and did not answer any specific questions asked by the Board. In addition, he told the Board that he would like to respond to PERAC's statement that FIA has not sent them all of the required reports, and therefore, could be part of the reason that the reporting seems incorrect.
Motion made by Ms. Barrett to provide Tony with any applicable information so that he may prepare a letter of response to PERAC; motion seconded by Mr. Malaguti. Unanimously voted.
Third Party Portfolio Monitoring
Robbins, Geller, Rudman & Dowd LLP has sent the Class Action Settlements Claims Due April 2011
Conferences:
NCPERS 2011 Annual Conference and Exhibition, May 22-26, 2011. After discussion, it was stated that no Board members will attend.
Section III: Membership:
Option D Application – Gregory Santos:
The Board discussed a posthumously submitted application for Option D benefits for Gregory Santos, naming his daughter, Carissa Duro, as his designated Option D beneficiary. Gregory Santos died February 9, 2011, and at that time, there were no updated beneficiary selection forms in the file. The most current beneficiary election was dated March 1990, and named his wife, Renee Santos, as the sole beneficiary. Ms. Santos is now seeking Option 12(2)(d) benefits for her daughter, which would provide a lifetime monthly benefit, as opposed to the lump sum distribution that Ms. Santos is eligible to receive. Ms. Sullivan told the Board that she gave Mr. Santos the Option D form in November 2010, but he never returned it to the Retirement Office.
Atty. Sacco told the Board that M.G.L. Chapter 32, Section 11(2)(c) states in part that the member must file the form with the Board prior to death. He summarized cases that had involved similar beneficiary challenges throughout the years, which the court ultimately concluded that the beneficiary form was not on file at the time of death, and therefore, could not be executed. Atty. Sacco recommended to the Board that they adopt a strict application of the statute and the interpretative case law and recognize Renee Santos as the sole lump sum beneficiary.
The Board discussed the matter at length. Atty. Sacco told them that in this case, the law is rigid and very specific in the handling of a 12(2)(d) benefit.
Motion made by Mr. Duhamel to name Renee Santos as the lump sum beneficiary; seconded by Mr. Manfredi. Unanimously voted.
Atty Sacco told the Board that he will notify Ms. Santos of the Board's vote and her inform her of the right of appeal of this decision.
New Hires:
Town:
9% Whitney, Theodore, Group 4, Police Officer
Perm. Full-time $ 833.65 weekly
Start Date: 02/07/2011
9% Westgate, Dennis, Group 1, Asst. DPW Director
Perm. Full-time $1,710.72 weekly
Start Date: 01/19/2011
9% Gurwitch, Jennifer, Group 1, Social/Outreach Worker COA
Perm. Full-time $749.36 weekly
Start Date: 02/14/2011
School:
9% Anderson, Janet, Group 1, Date Processing Secretary
Perm. Full-time $963.81 bi-weekly
Stare Date: 1/5/2011
Motion to approve new hires made by Mr. Malagutil; seconded by Ms. Barrett. Unanimously voted.
Refunds:
Town:
Castro, Hector D., Group 1, DPW Director
11 months creditable of service
Total Distribution Including FWT: $10,020.47
School:
Sullivan, Tracy A., Group 1, Special Needs Aide
13 years and 1 month of creditable service
Total Distribution Including FWT: $11,402.14
Rogers, Bert, R., Group 1, Custodian
8 years and three months of creditable service
Total Distribution Including FWT: $26,359.54
Motion to approve refunds made by Mr. Manfredi; seconded by Ms. Barrett. Unanimously voted.
Buy Backs:
Ellen R. (Davis) Murphy, former School Department Title One Teacher, is now a member of Massachusetts Teachers' Retirement System and has requested a buyback of service prior to membership. Will the Board vote to approve 3(8)(c ) liability of 4 months service for the period of October 1976 - March 1977?
Motion to approve buyback made by Mr. Duhamel; seconded by Mr. Malaguti. Unanimously voted.
Retirees:
For information only – no action requires:
Receipt of approved PERAC Medical Review for continued Disability Retirement of Charles L. Broder & Dennis M. Govoni.
Retirements:
School:
Perry, Nancy, Group 1, Cafeteria Worker
15 years, 4 months service (10/20/95 – 3/4/11)
Superannuation retirement, opt c
Retirement date: March 4, 2011
Because of the 5 year criteria stated in the Home Rule Petition, Ms. Perry has contacted School Human Resources and has stated that it is her intention to rescind her retirement application and postpone retirement to September 2011, at which time she will have carried health insurance premiums for at least five years and will be eligible for a reduced premium of 10%.
No action was taken by the Board.
Section IV: Executive Session:
Pursuant to MGL Chapter 30A, Section 21B, the Board will enter into executive session to discuss medical panel certificates and vote on two (2) accidental disability retirement applications.
Roll-call vote to enter into executive session at 10:06 a.m.:
Mr. Kelley yes
Ms. Barrett yes
Mr. Manfredi yes
Mr. Malaguti yes
Mr. Duhamel yes
The Board will not re-enter into the regular meeting.
Section VI: Adjournment:
Motion to adjourn meeting at 10:42 am. made by Mr. Duhamel; seconded by Mr. Malaguti. Unanimously voted.
Next Meeting: Friday, March 25, 2011, 8:30 a.m.
The Town of Plymouth Retirement Board unanimously voted to approve these minutes at their meeting on Friday, March 25, 2011. Original, signed minutes are available at the Retirement Office, 10 Cordage Park Circle, Suite 240, Plymouth, MA.
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