Lake Wales Firefighters Pension Board

LAKE WALES FIREFIGHTERS' RETIREMENT PLAN PENSION BOARD MEETING MINUTES October 22, 2018 - 1:00 P.M. 1. Call to Order and Roll Call The meeting was called to order at 1:05 p.m. by the Acting Chairman, Roy Wilkinson. The following members were present: Dennis Childress, Brian Patterson, and Caleb Simpson. The following service providers were present: Pedro Herrera, Attorney; Steve Stack, IInvestment Manager; Susy Pita, Plan Administrator; and Lee Blackwell and Rachell Lavasseur from Wells Fargo Advisors. A motion was made by Brian Patterson to appoint Roy Wilkinson as the new Pension Board Chairman. Seconded by Caleb Simpson, the motion carried unanimously. Because Roy was the Secretary, another motion was made by Roy Wilkinson to appoint Brian Patterson as the new Pension Board Secretary. Seconded by Caleb Simpson, the motion carried unanimously. 2. Approval of Minutes A motion was made by Dennis Childress to approve the minutes from the regular meeting held July 23, 2018 and the Special Meeting held on September 25, 2018. Seconded by Caleb Simpson, the motion carried unanimously. 3. Approval of Disbursements A motion was made by Dennis Childress to approve the disbursement report as presented. Seconded by Caleb Simpson, the motion carried unanimously. 4. Advisors Reports (a) Highland Capital - Steve Stack reviewed the Investment Portfolio results. Ending value as of September 30, 2018 was $8,190,209, with an annualized 5 year return of 7.38%. (b) Wells Fargo - Lee Blackwell and Rachell Lavasseur presented the portfolio composition as of September 30, 2018 as follows: US Large Cap Equities-42.07%, US Mid Cap Equities-8.27%, US Small Cap Equities-1.07%, Developed Markets EX US-7.37%, Emerging Market Equities- 0.39%, Special Equities-0.07%, US Taxable Investment Grade FixedIncome-31.65%, Developed Markets Fixed ncome-3.06%, High Yield FixedIncome-0.16%, Public Real Estate- 1.75%, and Cash Alternatives-4.15%. Ending market value of the plan was $8,498,412.51. Both representatives discussed the chaos surrounding the departure of Chris Rafool and Ron Snyder and stated that a transition plan should have been in place to avoid the issues that Highland Capital is experiencing with trading. Steve Stack stated that his firm has not been able to execute a trade since Chris' departure and he will be evaluating the issue and reporting any and all losses incurred by the Plan due to the lack of planning on the part of Wells Fargo. Lee Blackwell handed some forms to Pedro that he requested be executed immediately so that Highland Capital can begin trading again. Pedro briefly reviewed the documents and declined to allow execution because it was his understanding that letters were already executed by the Chairman and Administrator that were to remedy this issue several weeks ago. Following a very heated discussion the Wells Fargo representatives left the meeting. The Trustees expressed their extreme displeasure with the way Chris handled his departure and with the way Wells Fargo has handled it as well. Page 2 of 2 Lake Wales Firefighters' Pension Board October 22. 2018 (c) Sugarman & Susskind - Pedro provided his report throughout the meeting under the agenda items requiring his input. 5. Old Business There was none. 6. New Business (a) The Plan Administrator reviewed the Annual Expense Report for the Fiscal Year ending 09/30/18. A motion was made by Dennis Childress to approve the Expense Report as presented and to provide it to the City for posting on the web site (as required). Seconded by Brian Patterson, the motion carried unanimously. The Plan Administrator will see to the proper distribution. (b) The City Commission has not yet appointed a replacement to fill the vacancy left by Jerry Brown. The Plan Administrator will continue to communicate the need to fill position as soon as possible with the City Clerk's Office. (c) The 2019 Meeting Schedule was reviewed and approved. 7. Public Comments There were none. 8. Next Meeting Date The next regular meeting will be on Monday, January 28, 2019 at 1:00 p.m. 9. Adjournment The meeting ended at 3:00 p.m. For the Board: