General Employees Retirement Board

OFFICIAL MINUTES OF REGULAR MEETING OF THE STERLING HEIGHTS GENERAL EMPLOYEE’S RETIREMENT SYSTEM Wednesday November 28, 2018 Location: Room #202 40555 Utica Road, Sterling Heights, MI 48313 (586) 446-2783 Chairperson Weiler called the meeting to order at 12:12 p.m. BOARD MEMBERS PRESENT: Richard Weiler, Chairperson Jennifer Varney, Secretary Paul Henig, Trustee Mary Jaganjac, Treasurer BOARD MEMBERS ABSENT: Todd Marsh, Trustee – excused ALSO PRESENT: Tom Michaud, Legal Counsel – excused Ryan Clark, Treasury Service Coordinator APPROVAL OF AGENDA: Motion by Jaganjac, supported by Varney, to approve the agenda as presented. Ayes: All. Motion carried unanimously. APPROVAL OF MINUTES: Motion by Jaganjac, supported by Varney, to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held October 18, 2018. Ayes: All. Motion carried unanimously. COMMUNICATION FROM CITIZENS: None REPORT FROM LEGAL COUNSEL: None CONSENT AGENDA: Motion by Varney, supported by Jaganjac, to receive and file consent items I.A through I.D2 Ayes: All. Motion carried unanimously. 1 RECEIVE AND FILE: A. Benefit Register Listing for November 1, 2018 from Comerica Bank B. Cash and Assets Statement as of October 31, 2018 from Comerica Bank and Morgan Stanley C. Correspondence: Item Date Communication 1 Sep 26, 2018 Fee & Revenue Year-End Report Robbins Geller Rudman & Dowd Shareholder Class 2 Sep 28, 2018 Actions 4 Sep 28, 2018 VanOverbeke, Michaud & Timmony P.A. 202 of 2017 Update 5 Sep 30, 2018 Boyd Watterson Statement of Accounts 6 Oct 15, 2018 Pension & Investments publication 7 Oct 22, 2018 Morgan Stanley Wire Transfer Confirmation 8 Oct 29, 2018 Pension & Investments publication 9 Oct 30, 2018 Employee Benefit News October publication 10 Oct 31, 2018 MFS FORM ADV Part 2A and 2B D. Approval items 1. Payable from Fund Assets for fees in the amounts of $155,047.03 and $4,935.00 for Morgan Stanley consolidated invoice and Boyd Watterson, respectively 2. Payable from Fund Assets for Comerica bank fees in the amount of $4,850 REGULAR AGENDA: II. OLD BUSINESS: A. Service Retirement – Debra Belanger Motion by Henig, supported by Marsh, to approve Debra Belanger to receive Option A benefits with Pop-Up and no Annuity Withdrawal. Debra’s final average compensation is $4,145.16, with an actuarial-adjusted monthly dollar figure of $1,585.79. III. NEW BUSINESS: A. Pension Administration Comments - None B. Trustee Comments - None REPORT FROM MONEY MANAGERS A. Portfolio Performance Review with The Brice Group, Morgan Stanley The Brice Group distributed the investment performance analysis, alternative investment reports, and touched-on the following market drivers that are priced-in to securities across the board: 2  1) Comments from the Federal Reserve announcing “just below” neutral on interest rates 2) Pending trade talks between the US and China in Argentina having positive or negative effects on the market, depending on what comes from them 3) Stabilization in government with a split in Congress Securities continue in a wait and see position regarding the trade talks and the recommendation was made to hold a market update meeting the following week after the outcome is known. to hold a special meeting December 4 at 2:00pm to review the outcome of the trade talks and the overall impact on the markets. Morgan Stanley “On the Markets: Punctuality Counts” was cited and the firm holds to the messaging “they try to be early” when it comes to the market. B. 1:00pm Teleconference with Lazard -- Investment Performance Update Lazard reviewed their performance over the past quarters, noting the market movement today erased half of their quarterly losses. Still, the main drivers in the low portfolio performance are attributable to the Brazilian international trade deal with the U.S. since the presidential election placed trade-friendly leadership in the office, Turkish and Argentine currency continue their negative trend and signs of a moderation in US dollar strength. C. 1:30pm Teleconference with BlackRock - Unconstrained Bond Fund Educational BlackRock’s educational presentation to the Board included a walk-through of the manager’s Strategic Income Opportunities asset strategy, the risk/reward characteristics of the fund and its overall performance. Key takeaways are that it does not track to an index compared to the Total Return asset strategy offering a wide variety of global fixed income assets, holds a lower diversified risk exposure through an actively managed duration bandwidth typically between 0-3 years with a low correlation to the S&P 500. The board thanked the The Brice Group and the money managers for their time and presentations. Motion by Henig, supported by Jaganjac, to receive and file the investment performance analysis, alternative investment reports and the money manager presentations by Lazard Asset Management and BlackRock. ADJOURN: Motion by Henig, supported by Jaganjac, to adjourn the meeting at 2:47 p.m. Ayes: All. Motion carried unanimously. Respectfully Submitted, ___________________________________ Jennifer Varney, Secretary 3