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04/15/1996 TRUSTEES OF THE EMPLOYEES' PENSION FUND MEETING April 15, 1996 The City Commission, meeting as the Board of Trustees of the Employees' Pension Fund, met in regular session at City Hall, Monday, April 15, 1996 at 9:05 A.M., with the following members present: Rita Garvey Chairperson J. B. Johnson Trustee Robert Clark Trustee Ed Hooper Trustee Karen Seel Trustee Also Present were: Elizabeth M. Deptula City Manager Pamela K. Akin City Attorney Cynthia E. Goudeau City Clerk ITEM #2 - Minutes: Trustee Clark moved to approve the minutes of the April 1, 1996, meeting. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM #3 - Request for Pension: The City Manager presented the recommendation of the Pension Advisory Committee that David L. Ford be granted a non-job-connected disability pension under Section(s) 2.393 and 2.397 of the Employees' Pension Plan. David L. Ford was employed as a Maintenance Worker I on August 17, 1981, and began participating in the Pension Plan on that date. On August 29, 1994, he was promoted to Spray Technician; however, prior to that date he had been regularly working with the City’s spray program. Mr. Ford submitted the request for a job-connected disability pension to the PAC based on a diagnosis of severe dilated cardiomyopathy. The PAC, upon review of the documentation provided by Mr. Ford, was of the view that Mr. Ford is, in fact, totally disabled. However, whether the cause of the disability is related to the job was not established to the point at which the PAC could endorse a job-connected disability pension. The PAC, recognizing that Mr. Ford had exhausted all leave benefits, determined that it would be appropriate to approve a non-job-connected disability pension with the understanding that Mr. Ford may continue to provide additional medical documentation in support of job-relatedness and the PAC may revisit the issue of job-related vs. non-job-related at such time as that documentation is provided. The Risk Management Division advised the PAC that Mr. Ford submitted a claim for Workers’ Compensation benefits but that claim was denied and is currently under appeal. Medical documentation provided to support the awarding of a non-job-connected disability pension includes a letter dated 12/8/95, from Walter G. Johnson, M.D.; which indicates Mr. Ford suffers from “...severe dilated cardiomyopathy with markedly depressed ejection fraction estimated at 20%...” Dr. Johnson states, “He is unable to do even minimal exertion, without suffering from fatigue and dyspnea on exertion...” Dr. Peter J. Berman, by letter of 3/12/96, states Mr. Ford “...suffers from an end stage dilated cardiomyopathy with severe LV dysfunction .... possibly as a result of longstanding, poorly controlled hypertension...” He further related that “He was evaluated for cardiac transplantation and if he does poorly on medical therapy would be a candidate for this drastic treatment. The patient is permanently disabled by all criteria and is unable to be gainfully employed in any position. This process is not reversible...” By letter dated 3/12/96, Dr. Steven W. Smith of the Tampa Bay Health Care Group relates that due to his cardiomyopathy Mr. Ford “...is quite prone to having congestive heart failure...” and because of multiple medical problems “In my medical opinion, Mr. Ford will likely be permanently impaired from employment unless his heart function improves or if he is able to have a heart transplantation...” The City has evaluated the medical documentation provided and has concluded that no alternative job assignment exists to which Mr. Ford can be placed with the severity of his limitations. Based on an average salary of approximately $22,739 over the past five years and the formula for computing non-job-connected disability pensions, this pension will approximate $9,130 annually. Charts from Finance which take into consideration mortality rates and age reflect the "present value cost of financing" this pension will be approximately $127,115. The estimated pension cost (cash payout over the life of the pensioner and his beneficiary) is $383,447. Trustee Johnson moved to accept the recommendation of the Pension Advisory Committee. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM #4 - Authorize staff to conduct a search for a “value” style equity manager for the Employees Pension Fund; authorize Callen & Associates to assist with the search; & authorize the costs of the search to be paid from the pension fund For the calendar year ending 12/31/95, the Employees Pension Plan had a rate of return of 23.07%. At 12/31/95, the plan had investments with a market value of $266.7 million. This amount is evenly split between equity and fixed income. The last time the City added an investment manager was November, 1990 and at that time the plan had investments with a market value of $122.2 million. The City contracts with Callen & Associates to provide performance measurement and information on investment managers. Currently the plan has three equity managers each with a different investment style. The investment managers are: Aeltus Investment Management, Inc. (growth style), Denver Investment Advisors LLC, (midcap style) and Hanson Investment Management Co. (growth at a reasonable price, GARP style). The Investment Committee unanimously recommends a “value” equity style manager be added to better diversify the equity investments. The Committee is made up of the City Manager, Finance Director, Finance Controller, Risk Manager, Cash and Investment Manager, John Willoughby (Investment Advisor with Eickhoff, Pieper & WIlloughby, Inc.), and Bill Badger (Performance Measurement with Callen & Associates). Callen’s fee for the search will be $20,000. This fee will be paid by directing investment trades through their broker and will not be a direct expense of the pension plan. The Investment Committee will come back to the Trustees in late summer or early fall with the results of the search for approval. By adding an additional equity manager, the investment management fee will increase by an estimated $31,250 per year. The cost of committee member travel to investigate/research the top ranked firm(s) is estimated at $3,000. The actual amount will be affected by the location of the investment manager(s) and the number that need to be researched. Margaret Simmons, Finance Director, indicated although the Pension Plan’s investments are doing well, there is a need to further diversify in equities. In response to a question, John Willoughby, investment advisor, stated the purpose of adding a value manager was to obtain more consistency in the plan’s return. Ms. Simmons indicated the split between fixed income and equity will remain at 50/50; the equity portion will be divided among four managers instead of three. Questions were raised regarding how the managers are to be paid. Mr. Willoughby indicated it would be on a sliding scale percentage of the money managed. Mr. Willoughby also indicated over the last eight years the pension funds have averaged at 13% return per year. Regarding Callen & Associates, it was indicated they would be compensated by channeling trades through them. Mr. Willoughby said Callen will look at the 10 year performance of companies responding to the bid and compare them to other value managers. In response to questions, it was affirmed that this action authorizes the search; it does not award the contract. Also, the fees to be paid to the manager takes into account the lessening of funds being managed by the three current equity managers. Trustee Clark moved to authorize staff to conduct a search for a “value” style equity manager for the Employees Pension Fund; to authorize Callen & Associates to assist with the search; and to authorize the costs of the search to be paid from the pension fund. The motion was duly seconded and carried unanimously. ITEM #5 - Other Business: - None. ITEM #6 - Adjournment: 9:22 a.m.