Pension Committee
Tuesday, January 26 2010
On Tuesday, January 26, 2010, a joint meeting of the
Non-Uniformed and Uniformed Employees Pension Committee was held at 8:00 a.m. at the Township Administration
Building.
Members present were:
Walter Henkel, Chairman, Non-Uniformed and Uniformed Employee
Pension Committees
George F. Komelasky, Member, Non-Uniformed and Uniformed
Employees
Pension Committees
Lonnie Murdock, Member, Non-Uniformed Employees Pension
Committee
John Gross, Member, Uniformed Employees Pension
Committee
Others present were:
Robert M. Pellegrino, Township Manager
Robert Armelin, Finance Director
Dolores C. Mitchell, Administrative Assistant
At 8:10 a.m. Mr. Henkel called the meeting to
order.
Consent Items:
A motion (Gross-Murdock) was made to approve the minutes ofJuly
14, 2009 and August 25, 2009.Motion passed unanimously.
Summary-Northampton Township Pension
Plans
The pension committees reviewed a summary prepared by the
Finance Director indicating the year end results as of December 31, 2009, from Floyd Carl and CoresStates as compared
to their benchmarks.Some discussion ensued regarding how they arrive at the benchmark amount.
Review December 2009 Performance Reports - Corestates
Capital Advisors
William Spiropoulos and Kenneth Coniglio were present and
explained that their benchmarks are 35 percent fixed income and 65 percent equities in a blend of what we own.In
future reports they will unbundle the benchmark to show all of our holdings individually.In this way equities can be
compared to equities and fixed assets to fixed assets.
The pension committees requested that CoreStates provide a
report showing their performance for the last five years.
Mr. Spiropoulos and Mr. Coniglio reiterated their concern that
we need to place some of our assets in alternative investments.An amount of 10 percent to be invested in alternative
investments was agreed upon by the pension committees at their last meeting; however, it must also be approved by the
Board of Supervisors via a revised and adopted Investment Policy Statement.Mr. Pellegrino stated again that this
document should be reviewed and approved every year at the Board of Supervisors' organization meeting.Also, we must
establish a regular schedule for our pension meetings.
Review December 2009 Performance Reports - Stifel,
Nicolaus
Mr. Floyd Carl discussed how he arrived at his benchmarks.Mr.
Pellegrino requested percentage ratios for these benchmarks.Mr. Carl then advised that the transition from Church
Capital to Stifel Nicolaus is now complete.In discussing his performance report he advised that a small percentage of
our assets were moved to different parts of the market (alternative investments).The pension committees requested a
separate report on these investments.Schwaab has custody of the assets.
Investment Policy
Statement
The pension committee members have all received a draft copy of
the revised IPS.After discussion regarding alternative investing, Mr. Pellegrino will revise the paragraph entitled
"Prohibited Securities" to remove any conflicting language regarding alternative investments.Mr. Henkel requested
that our advisors (Stifel, Nicolaus and CoreStates) review the IPS.They agreed to review and provide written
comments.After all revisions are made, the IPS will be presented to the Board of Supervisors, probably at the end of
February, for approval and adoption.The adopted IPS will remain in force until amended.
Act 44
Mr. Komelasky referencedan article in a recent PSATS publication
regarding ACT 44 that provides information for faltering or underfunded pension plans.
Next Pension Meeting
Discussion was held regarding regular scheduled meetings of the
pension committees.It was agreed that a meeting should be held in the month following each quarter,
with
special meetings if required.The next meeting of the Uniformed
and Non-Uniformed Employees Pension Committee will be held in two weeks.
Adjournment - Mr. Henkel called for a motion for adjournment at 11:00a.m.A motion was made (Gross-Murdock) and
Passed unanimously.
Prepared by:
Dolores C. Mitchell, Administrative Assistant
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