Firefighters Pension Board

NILES FIREFIGHTERS' PENSION FUND BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING 8350 DEMPSTER NttEs, tL 50714 MAY 15, 2019 The meeting was called to order at 8:30 a.m. by President Byron Tull. Trustees Present: Bob Greiner, Byron Tull, Jim Grammas, and Marimel Lim. Absent was retired trustee Rich Teper Officials Present: Tom Sawyer and Edward Lavin from Sawyer Falduto Asset Management, LLC, lnvestment Advisor to the Fund; Attorney carolyn clifford, ottosen Britz; Trinette Garner and Maria Molek, Lauterbach & Amen, LLP; and Rich Scipione, Pension Clerk for the Fund. Public Comment: No public comment. Previous Minutes Approval: on a motion by Tull, seconded by Grammas, the minutes from the october 30, 2018 meetinB were approved by a unanimous voice vote. on a motion by Greiner, seconded by Tull, the minutes from the February 27,2079 meeting were approved by a unanimous voice vote. president Byron Tull reviewed the closed meeting minutes as required semi-annually. The minutes reviewed were: November 30, 2002 February 4, 2009 December 15, 20O4 September 28, 2009 February 9, 2005 October 15, 2009 February 26, 2005 February 8, 2010 April 11, 2006 April 7, 2010 Decembe17,2005 September 7, 2010 January 8, 2008 On a motion by Tull, seconded by Greiner, to keep the listed meeting minutes closed for another six months. AYES: Greiner, Tull, Lim, and Grammas NAYS: None ABSENT: Teper 1  NILES FIREFIGHTERS' PENSION FUND BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING 8360 DEMPSTER N|IES, lt 50714 MAY 15, 2019 Motion carried. Presentation by Lauterbach and Amen LLP: Trinette Gardner from Lauterbach & Amen reviewed the Niles Firefighters' Pension Fund Monthly Financial Report for the month ended April 30, 2019, which was also the fiscal year end report. Total assets April 30,2019 534385,360.58 Liabilities April 30, 2019 54698.00 Net Position Held in Trust for Pension Beneftts 534,380,652.58 Trinette presented the bills and disbursements for February 25, 2019 through April 26,2OL9 for a total of S173,183.70, check numbers 30219-30232 and 50038. A motion was made by Tull, seconded by Grammas, to approve the April 30, 2019 financial statement. Upon a callofthe roll: AYES: Greiner, Tull, Grammas, and Lim NAYS: None ABSENT: Teper Motion carried. A motion was made by Tull, seconded by Greiner, to approve the paYment of the bills and disbursements of checks 30219-30232 and 5fi)38 in the amount of S L73,183.7O. Upon a callofthe roll: AYES: Greiner, Tull, Grammas, and Lim NAYS: None ABSENT: Teper Motion carried. The lllinois Department of lnsurance Annual Statement is due October 31n. Lauterbach and Amen are completing the audit work and financials at this time. We are expected to have the report completed prlor to the due date. Trinette explained a new requirement from DOI about required spousal information for each beneficiary beginning April 23, 2019. She will be collecting this information from our beneficiaries in the near future. 2  NITES FIREFIGHTERS' PENSION FUND BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING 8360 DEMPSTER NrtE tt 60714 May 16, 2019 The actuarial valuation will be in draft form by the next quarterly meeting. Lauterbach and Amen are scheduled to present the draft at the August meetinE. lnvestment Adviso/s Report: Tom Sawyer from Sawyer Falduto presented the Fund's March 31, 2019 "Quarterly lnvestment Performance Report." The 2019 first quarter ending market value was S33,194,512, with an investment return of 52,847 '746. The total account return for the first quarter was 9.35% versus the benchmark of 9.15%. The equity rate of return for the second quarter was 13.85% versus the blended benchmark of 13.5%. The fixed income rate of return was 2.51% versus the benchmark of 2.10%. Our current portfolio allocation as of March 3L,2O!9: Equities at 62.9%, Fixed lncome at 36.9%, and Cash Equivalent at 0.3%. There are no pending changes to the lnvestment PolicY. A motion was made by Tull, seconded by Greiner, to approve the Quarterly lnvestment Performance Report for the quarter ending March 31, 2019. AYES: Greiner, Tull, Grammas, and Lim NAYS: None ABSENT: Teper Old Business: All trustees completed and submitted their economic interest statement for cook county. Trustees reviewed Death Audit Service provided by the IPPFA and Lauterbach & Amen. Carolyn investigated if the agreement would be modified to include the obligation of IPPFA and Lauterbach & Amen to follow the lllinois Personal ldentity Protection Act (PIPA), and IPPFA refused to modify the authorization form for the services. Lauterbach & Amen will aaually hold the contract through Life 360 (Death Service Auditor), and thus, through the Fund's engagement letter with Lauterbach, PIPA will be followed. Carolyn is satisfied with our current engagement letter with Lauterbach will protect our members- A motion was made by Tull, seconded by Greiner, to approve the Death Audit Services provided by IPPFA & Lauterbach and Amen. AYES: Greiner, Tull, Grammas, and Lim  NITES FIREFIGHTERS' PENSION FUND BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING 8360 DEMPSTER N|IES, tt 60714 May 15, 2019 NAYS: None AESENT Teper Byron received a response from Securities America regarding inappropriate accounts held by our previous financial advisor. Niles Pension Fund does not hold any accounts with Securities America. Consideration of and Action upon Applicants for Admission: A new firefighter, Louis Panagopoulos, joined the Niles Fire Department on May 1, 2019. He has applied for membership into the Niles Firefighters' Pension Fund. Louis successfully completed his medical assessment. This application is for the Tier 2 pension fund membership. Louis was a previous Tier 2 pension fund member with Hanover Park and wants to combine creditable service. Carolyn is investigating this and asked the Board to table the item until next quarterly meetinS. Fire Apparatus Engineer Greg Schmidt applied for regular retirement on May 2, 2019. The Board is waiting on final paperwork and tabled this item until next meeting. New Business: John Zeman stepped down from the Board at our last quarterly pension meeting. Nomination letters were sent to all retired pension members. The Board received nominations for Rich Teper and Don Kaderabek. Don Kaderabek declined/withdrew his nomination and Rich Teper was the only person nominated. Since there is only one person nominated for the position, the Board dispensed with the formal election and declared the only nominee elected by acclamation. On a motion by Tull, seconded by Greiner, the Board dispensed with the formal election and declared the only nominee elected by acclamation being Rich Teper. The term will be the remaining unexpired term of two years from May 1, 2019 to April 30, 2021. Upon a call of the roll: AYES: Greiner, Tull, Lim, and Grammas NAYS: None ABSENT: TepeT Motion carried. Bob Greine/s term as pension trustee expired on May 1,2019. Nomination memo and email were sent to all active members. The Board received nominations for Bob Greiner only. Since there is only one person nominated for the position, the Board dispensed with the formal election and declared the only nominee elected by acclamation. 4  NITES FIREFIGHTERS' PENSION FUND BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING 8360 DEMPSTER NttEs, tL 50714 May 15, 2019 On a motion by Tull, seconded by Greiner, the Board dispensed with the formal election and declared the only nominee elected by acclamation being Bob Greiner. The term is a three-year term, May 1, 2019 to April 30,2022. Uponacall of the roll: AYES: Greiner, Tull, Lim, and Grammas NAYS: None ABSENT: Teper Motion carried. After a small discussion on the annual election of the Board president and secretary, a motion was made by Tull, seconded by Grammas, to elect Byron Tull as President of the Board and Bob Greiner as Secretary to the Board. Upon a call of the roll: AYES: Greiner, Lim, Tull, and Grammas NAYS: None ABSENT: Teper Motion carried. A motion was made by Tull, seconded by Greiner, to retain Richard Scipione as the Pension Clerk until April 30, 2020. Upon a call ofthe roll: AYES: Greiner, Tull, Lim, and Grammas NAYS: None ABSENT: Teper Motion carried. A motion was made by Tull, seconded by Grammas, approve the Pension Clerk annual stipend of 51300. Upon a call ofthe roll: AYES: Greiner, Tull, Lim, and Grammas NAYS: None ABSENT: TepeT Motion carried. Steve Zook is our only disabled member that is required to submit an lME. Byron Tull mailed the current form with a due date in August. 5  NILES FIREFIGHTERS' PENSION FUND BOARD OF TRUSTEES MEETING 8360 DEMPSTER N|LES, tt 60714 May 16, 2019 Training: Carolyn distributed training material for the Board to review. Training article that was reviewed included Quarterly lnsights for the second quarter on internal controls; a PowerPoint presentation "Setting Actuarial Assumptions; Understanding the Professional and Fiduciary Responsibilities;" a PowerPoint presentation "Pros and Cons of lllinois Pension Fund Consolidation." Carolyn issued an updated lnvestment Return Assumptions Chart for local Pension Funds and highlights from the State Actuary. Excerpt from the "State Mandated Funding Method":'The lllinois Pension Code establishes a method that does not adequately fund the systems. Cherion continues to recommend that the funding method be changed to fully fund plan benefits and discontinue the systematlc underfunding of the systems. The funding method should target 100% of the actuarial accrued liability, and contributions should ramp up as quickly as possible to level that is expected to prevent the unfunded accrued liability from growing. Contlnuing the practice of underfunding the systems increases the risk of needing even larger contributions in the future that may make the systems unsustainable." Byron wants to meet with the Vlllage of Niles Finance Committee regarding the investment rate of return. Carolyn led a discussion regarding internal controls. Bob Greiner explained our process of submitting purchase and check requests- He explained there are multiple members touchin8 the check request verifying lts legitimacy including two pension trustees, senior accountant, and the treasurer of the Fund. - The Fund's service providers Sawyer Falduto and Lauterbach & Amen also commented on the - safeguards they have in place to ensure no moneys are fraudulently transferred from the Fund. The Eoard has designated two hours of training for this meetinS. Next Meeting: The next meeting is scheduled for August 29, 2019 at 8:30 a.m. The meeting was adjourned at 10:01 a.m. on a motion by Tull, seconded by Greiner, and approved upon a unanimous vote voice. itted Rob ert reiner, Secretary Minutes approved by the Board of Trustees at its meeting on {,r 2079 Minutes prepored by Rich Scipione, Pension Clerk to the Fund 6