Retirement Commission - Minutes - 02/16/2022

Retirement Commission Wednesday, February 16, 2022
Meeting Minutes 5:30pm
Zoom Meeting
Present:
Absent:
Staff:
Chair Susan Driscoll, Richard Muckle, Linda Finnegan, Chris Gamble
Kevin Petchark, Craig Merriman, Robert Brule, First Selectman
Kimberly Allen, Director of Finance, and Maryellen McConnell, Secretary
Meeting called to order at 5:35 om.
Public Comment: There was no public comment.
Approval of minutes from the meeting of December 15, 2021.
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Motion by Richard Muckle and seconded by Linda Finnegan to approve the
minutes as presented.
Vote: 3-0-1 Abstain: Chris Gamble Motion: Passed
Consideration of 4021 Quarterly Investment Review: Devon Francis of Fiducient
Advisors presented the main take-aways from the very detailed report, fielded
members’ questions, and discussed the past and forecasted impacts of record-
breaking volatility in the stock market on our pension and OPEB investment
portfolios’ performance.
She began by noting that Fiducient Advisors had been working closely with
Principal Trust Company, which recently purchased Wells Fargo. Full conversion
to the new service provider (e.g., for online account management, benefit
payments, and money transfers) is to begin February 18. She anticipated that
the conversion should not trigger any practical changes for the town.
Ms. Francis reported that last year’s strategy, approved by the Commission, to
slightly alter the allocation of assets in our two portfolios to better our position
in the pandemic-driven volatility of the stock market was successful. Hooker &
Helcome, our actuaries, had set rate-of-return targets of 6.25% for our pension
portfolio and 6.5% for our OPEB portfolio. The performance summary data for
2021 shows that both targets were met and that overall return rates since each
plan’s inception (in 2016 and 2017, exceed the targets.

Retirement Commission Meeting
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8. Adjournment:
Motion by Richard Muckle and seconded by Chris Gamble to adjourn at 6:28
p.m.
Vote: 4-0-0 Motion; Passed
Respectfully submitted,
Maryellen’McConneil, Sectétary