Link back to Retirement Board page
Minutes of Meeting
Hingham Contributory Retirement Board
October 27, 2010
The regular meeting of the Board of Retirement was duly posted to be held at 1:00 P.M. in the East Hearing Room of the Hingham Town Hall on the above date. Board members Thomas P. Hall, Jean M. Montgomery, Eileen A. McCracken and Henry F.G. Wey were present. Ted C. Alexiades will be late to attend the meeting. Christopher Rowlins from Fiduciary Investment Advisors was also in attendance.
On a motion duly made by Eileen A. McCracken and seconded by Jean M. Montgomery it was
VOTED to appoint Thomas P. Hall as temporary chairman.
UNANIMOUS 4-0.
On a motion duly made by Henry F.G. Wey, III and seconded by Eileen A. McCracken it was
VOTED to approve the Minutes of the September 28, 2010 regular board meeting
which were accepted as read and signed into the record.
UNANIMOUS 4-0.
On a motion duly made by Thomas P. Hall and seconded by Eileen A. McCracken it was
VOTED to issue payment for the following monthly Warrants:
Retirement Allowances (October 2010)
Pension $ 414,831.43
Annuity $ 74,119.95
Veteran Benefit $ 149.28
Cost of Living $ 6,390.05
Dependent Allowance $ 839.87
Total Warrant #PR1010 $ 496,330.58
UNANIMOUS 4-0
Retirement Expenses (October 2010)
Salaries $ 5,269.12
Office Expenses $ 1,863.29
3(8)(c) Payment(s) $ 0.00
Refund(s)/Transfer(s) $ 2,607.40
Accidental Death Refund(s) $ 0.00
Option B Refund(s) $ 0.00
Miscellaneous $ 0.00
Total Warrant #AP0910 $ 9,739.81
UNANIMOUS 4-0
RECEIVED Application(s) for Membership in the Retirement System.
On a motion duly made by Eileen A. McCracken and seconded by Henry F.G. Wey, III it was
VOTED to approve the following Application(s) for Membership:
Janice L. MacDonald Library (Technician) October 1, 2010
Molly M. Keif School Dept. (Paraprofessional) October 1, 2010
Jennifer A. Benoit School Dept. (Paraprofessional) October 1, 2010
UNANIMOUS 4-0
RECEIVED No Application(s) for Retirement in the Retirement System.
RECEIVED Application(s) for Withdrawal and/or Transfer of Deductions.
On a motion duly made by Eileen A. McCracken and seconded by Jean M. Montgomery it was
VOTED to approve the following Application(s) for Withdrawal and/or Transfer of Deductions:
Catherine A. Boyle School Dept. (Paraprofessional) Transfer $1,370.19
Kaitlyn E. Murphy School Dept. (Paraprofessional) Transfer $1,237.21
UNANIMOUS 4-0
RECEIVED No Application(s) for Buybacks/Make-ups.
The Cash Flow Report through October 31, 2010 was discussed. A drawdown in the amount of $300,000 was completed from PRIT in order to cover ongoing retirement board expenses.
Board members were shown that the September 2010 Money Market account ending balance in the amount of $276,808.54 reconciles to the September 2010 Trial Balance.
At 1:15 P.M. Ted C. Alexiades joined the meeting already in progress.
On a motion duly made by Eileen A. McCracken and seconded by Jean M. Montgomery it was
VOTED to declare Ted Alexiades as chairman and to take control of the meeting.
UNANIMOUS 5-0
The meeting was turned over to Christopher Rowlins of Fiduciary Investment Advisors to address the board on the following topics: Submittal of Statement of Investment Objectives with PERAC, Draft of Investment Policy Statement, Fiduciary Education and Approval of Asset Allocation Strategy.
On a motion duly made by Henry F.G. Wey, III and seconded by Thomas P. Hall it was
VOTED to approve the Statement of Investment Objectives and to file same with PERAC.
UNANIMOUS 5-0
On a motion duly made by Eileen A. McCracken and seconded by Henry F.G. Wey, III it was
VOTED to approve the Investment Policy Statement and to file same with PERAC.
UNANIMOUS 5-0
Effective January 1, 2011 Hingham will transition from a "Participating System" to a "Purchasing System" with PRIT. The board asked Christopher Rowlins about fiduciary training. According to Mr. Rowlins, there are currently no fiduciary requirements a board must achieve under PERAC– only ethics training. He suggested that fiduciary training can be obtained by establishing a fiduciary checklist. The checklist would include items such as: maintaining a fiduciary paper trail by means of minutes of meetings, working with an actuary, retaining an investment advisor to gain greater knowledge of asset allocations and attending semi-annual MACRS conferences if feasible. The board also thought that it would be a good idea if legal counsel attends a board meeting in order to instruct them on their fiduciary responsibilities.
On a motion duly made by Henry F.G. Wey, III and seconded by Eileen A. McCracken it was
VOTED to approve the Asset Allocation Study.
UNANIMOUS 5-0.
The board postponed their decision on Local Option, Chapter 131 of the Acts of 2010 (Sections 27 and 28) to the November board meeting. The local option increases the supplemental annual allowance of a Section 101 Survivor from $6,000 to $9,000. A Section 101 Survivor is the spouse of an accidental/ordinary disability retiree who retired before November 1996 (Option C was not available to disability retirees prior to November 1996) and dies of a cause unrelated to their disability.
The board was advised that our legal counsel, Kevin Feeley is no longer employed by the law firm of Collins, Loughran & Peloquin, P.C. Kevin will be establishing a private law practice under the name of Feeley & Brown, P.C. Chairman Alexiades suggested that the board continue with his professional services.
On a motion duly made by Jean M. Montgomery and seconded by Thomas P. Hall it was
VOTED to employ the firm of Powers & Sullivan as Auditor for the calendar years 2010 and 2011.
UNANIMOUS 5-0.
On a motion duly made by Henry F.G. Wey, III and seconded by Eileen A. McCracken it was
VOTED to engage PTG (Pension Technology Group) as retiree software vendor effective December 15, 2010.
UNANIMOUS 5-0.
The Monthly Account Statement and PRIT Fund Performance for the period ending
September 30, 2010 was discussed. The PRIT Core Fund returned 5.79% for the month of September 2010 and 7.13% calendar year-to-date.
The board decided not to vote for an increase in the retirement system COLA base under the provisions of Chapter 188. The board would like to approve an increase in the COLA base but Social Security has confirmed that there will be no COLA for the 2nd year in a row and with recent investment losses; a COLA increase is just not feasible at this time.
On a motion duly made by Eileen A. McCracken and seconded by Thomas P. Hall it was
VOTED to adjourn the regular business meeting at 3:05 P.M.
UNANIMOUS 4-0
The next meeting of the Board of Retirement will be held on Tuesday, November 23, 2010 at 10:00 A.M. in the East Hearing Room of the Hingham Town Hall.
Respectfully submitted,
Nancy M. Hutt
Administrative Assistant to the Board
APPROVED
BOARD OF RETIREMENT
Ted C. Alexiades, Chairman Thomas P. Hall, Appointed Member
Eileen A. McCracken, Elected Member Jean M. Montgomery, Elected Member
Henry F.G. Wey, III, Appointed Member