06-12-2023CITY OF EDGEWATER
FIREFIGHTERS' PENSION BOARD
QUARTERLY MEETING MINUTES
City Hall Council Chambers
104 N. Riverside Drive
Edgewater, FL 32132
Monday, June 12, 2023, at 4:00prn
TRUSTEES PRESENT: David Blair
Herb Epstein
Ron Hayward
Kory Hayward
James Binder
TRUSTEES ABSENT: None
OTHERS PRESENT: Pedro Herrera, Sugarman, Susskind, Braswell & Herrera (via phone)
John Thinnes, AndCo Consulting
David Kelly, Bowen Hanes & Company
Inez Garcia, Salem Trust
Doug Lozen, Foster & Foster (via phone)
Michelle Rodriguez, Foster & Foster
1. Call to Order— David Blair called the meeting to order at 4:01 pm.
2. Public Comments — None.
3. Approval of Minutes
a. March 13, 2023, Quarterly Meeting Minutes
The Board approved the March 13. 2023, quarterly meeting minutes as presented, upon motion by
Herb Epstein and second by James Binder; motion carried 5-0.
4. New Business
a. COLA Study
i. Doug Lozen reviewed the study and commented the 12 different scenarios
detailing the impact of an automatic cost of living adjustment (COLA) of either 2%
or 3% for Normal and DROP Retirees (both with and without current retirees).
ii. David Blair asked if they chose one of the options and the funded ratio of the plan
decreased, what could be done to increase it. Doug Lozen commented several
factors affect the funded ratio including plan returns and contributions.
iii. David Blair asked what the average funded ratio was, and Doug Lozen said the
average police and fire plan was at 90%.
b. Share Plan distributions for DROP participants
I. The board discussed the intent and administration of the Share Plan ordinance
and administrative policy.
ii. Pedro Herrera commented since DROP participants were still actively employed,
they were not eligible to receive any benefits.
iii. Pedro Herrera commented the Share Plan ordinance specified active DROP
members were not eligible to receive distributions until they terminated
employment and added they did not earn allocations while they were in the DROP,
but they should receive the plan earnings.
c. City Travel Policy
i. David Blair commented the board was currently using the City's travel policy.
Pedro Herrera commented he would bring a proposed policy for them to review at
the next meeting.
5. Old Business — None.
6. Reports (Attorney/Consultants)
a. Salem Trust, Inez Garcia, Plan Custodian
i. Pensioner Portal
1. Inez Garcia reviewed the features of the pensioner portal and commented
it was completely optional and there was no cost to the plan.
The Board voted to approve the Salem Trust pensioner portal with all functions, upon motion by
Herb Epstein and second by James Binder: motion carried 5-0.
b. Bowen Hanes, David Kelly, Investment Manager
i. Quarterly Investment Report as of March 31, 2023
1. David Kelly reviewed the portfolio's asset allocations and individual fund
performance over the last quarter.
c. AndCo, John Thinnes, Investment Consultant
i. Quarterly Investment Report as of March 31, 2023
1. John Thinnes reviewed the market environment over the last quarter and
commented both US and international equity markets continued to
recover. John commented expectations were for inflation to continue to
decline and for the Federal Reserve to slow down rate hikes.
2. John Thinnes explained the yield curve.
3. John Thinnes reviewed the sector allocations of the plan and
recommended they rebalance to bring their US equity and fixed income
closer to their target allocations.
4. The total fund net returns for the quarter ending March 31, 2023, were
4.22%, underperforming the policy benchmark of 5.83%. The 1, 3, 5, 7,
and 10 -year trailing returns were -6.01%, 12.64%, 7.88%, 8.93% and
8.17%, respectively. Since inception (12/01/01), the return was 6.14%,
underperforming the benchmark of 6.67%.
5. John Thinnes reviewed the individual investment funds and did not have
any recommendations for changes.
d. Sugarman, Susskind, Braswell & Herrera, Pedro Herrera, Plan Attorney
i. House Bill 3 Memo
1. Pedro Herrera reviewed House Bill 3 that recently passed the Florida
House and Senate. Pedro explained this bill changed the definition of a
fiduciary and prohibited trustees of public pension plans to consider
Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) concerns when making
investment decisions.
2. Pedro Herrera commented this new legislation would require them to
submit a report to the State by December 31 s' every other year and added
his firm was working with the Department of Management Services to
verify the details of the reporting requirements.
ii. Financial disclosure forms
7. Consent Aaenda
a. Payment Ratification
i. Warrant #95
b. Invoices for payment approval
i. None
c. Fund activity report for March 7, 2023, through June 5, 2023
The consent agenda was approved as presented, upon motion by Herb Epstein and second by
James Binder: motion carried 5-0.
8. Staff Reports. Discussion, and Action
a. Annual Report update
i. Michelle Rodriguez advised the board that the annual report was submitted to the
State on April 17, 2023.
b. Educational Opportunities
i. Michelle Rodriguez reviewed the educational opportunities available to the board.
9. Trustees' Reports. Discussion. and Action — None.
10. Adiournment — Meeting adjourned at 5:24pm.
11. Next Meeting — September 18, 2023, at 4:OOpm.
Respectfully submitted by: Approved by:
OAC
Michelle Rodriguez, Plan Adn"r'tdlr Djja5�vid Blair, Chairman
Date Approved by the Pension Board: �� 7 k 3