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Home My WebLink About2025_02-20_RETIREMENT BOARD MEETING NO 297_MINUTES_APPROVED 243 MINUTE BOOK RETIREMENT BOARD WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLANIA IMR LIMITED EJAQZ9291Q Minute No. 297 February 20, 2025 The quarterly meeting of the Washington County Retirement Board was held at approximately 10:30 a.m. on Thursday,February 20,2025,in the public meeting room with the following members being present: Commissioners Nick Sherman,Electra Janis, and Larry Maggi;Controller Heather Sheatler and Deputy Controller Brittany Mosco;Deputy Treasurer Lisa Rice.Also present;Solicitor Gary Sweat;Director of Finance Adam Petris;Chief of Staff Daryl Price;Chief Clerk Cynthia Griffin and Administrative Assistant Debbie Corson;Executive Secretaries Casey Grealish and Randi Marodi;Lee Martin,Ph.D. and Brad Hampton representing Marquette Associates. Mr. Sherman, called the meeting to order at approximately 10:30 a.m. on Thursday, February 20,2025. Approval of Minutes Mr. Sherman entertained a motion to approve meeting Minutes 296 dated November 7, 2024. The motion was moved by Ms.Janis and seconded by Mr. Maggi that the above-mentioned minutes be approved as written. No discussion followed. Roll call vote taken: Ms. Sheader—yes;Mr. Maggi—yes;Ms.Janis—yes;Mr. Sherman—yes Motion passed unanimously. Public Comment None. Treasurer's Report Treasurer Tom Flickinger was not present,Mr. Sherman called for a recess to contact the Treasurer's office. Roll call vote taken: Ms. Sheatler—yes;Mr. Maggi—yes;Ms.Janis—yes;Mr. Sherman—yes Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Sherman recessed the meeting at 10:32 a.m. Mr. Sherman re-opened the meeting at 10:39 a.m. Deputy Treasurer Lisa Rice made a motion to accept the presented reconciliations as of October 2024 to December 2024. Motion was accepted and moved by Ms.Janis and seconded by Mr. Maggi. Roll call vote taken: Ms. Sheader—yes; Ms. Rice—yes;Mr. Maggi—yes;Ms.Janis—yes;Mr. Sherman—yes Motion passed unanimously. 244 MINUTE BOOK RETIREMENT BOARD WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLANIA IMA I IMITM E1607229LD Retirement Allowance Report Bank Balance as of October 1, 2024 $128,322.42 Deposits to Checking Account -0- Transfers In -0- ACH Credit $290,345.87 Other Credits $930,064.34 Less: Cancelled Checks (126,685.71) Less: Other Debits -0- Less:ACH Debits (926,942.96) Funds Transfers Out -0- Bank Balance as of October 31,2024 $295,103.96 Transfers to Mutual Funds -0- Less: Outstanding Checks (270,400.69) Less: Retirement Check Run (24,703.27) Reconciled Balance as of October 31,2024 Bank Balance as of November 1,2024 $ 295,103.96 Deposits to Checking Account -0- Transfers In $86,960.59 ACH Credit $441,979.98 Other Credits $813,520.80 Less: Cancelled Checks (186,787.79) Less: Other Debits -0- Less:ACH Debits (1,095,635.64) Funds Transfers Out (86,960.59) Bank Balance as of November 30,2024 $268,181.31 Transfers to Mutual Funds $12,443.23 Less: Outstanding Checks (102,992.07) Less: Retirement Check Run (26,955.72) Reconciled Balance as of Nov. 30, 2024 245 MINUTE BOOK RETIREMENT BOARD WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLANIA IMR I IMITFQ E1 751512J1_p Bank Balance as of December 1, 2024 Deposits to Checking Account Transfers In $ 268,181.31 ACH Credit $2,963.83 Other Credits -0- Less: Cancelled Checks $301,574.62 Less: Other Debits $660,211.05 (167,656.57) -0- Less:ACH Debits (993,299.21) Funds Transfers Out -0- Bank Balance as of December 31,2024 $ 71,975.03 Transfers to Mutual Funds -0- Less: Outstanding Checks (46,611.89) Less: Retirement Check Run (25,363.14) Reconciled Balance as of Dec. 31,2024 Requisitions Ms. Sheader made a motion to approve the requisitions for the months of October 2024 through December 2024. Motion was seconded by Mr. Maggi. No discussion followed. Roll call vote taken: Ms. Sheader—yes; Ms. Rice—yes;Mr. Maggi—yes;Ms.Janis—yes;Mr. Sherman—yes Motion passed unanimously. Distributions October 2024 Check Payee Amount 3510 Deborah Eckels-Boles 30,219.26 3523 Tanner Harris 3,308.39 3514 Adam Garrity 5,184.68 3515 Kristi Wyke 27,643.95 3516 Charles Schwab as trustee of IRA of Diana Toma 670.80 3517 Fidelity Investments as trustee of IRA of Patrick Scully 4,493.10 3518 April Sloane 16,812.95 3519 Brandi Lowe 39,895.39 246 MINUTE BOOK RETIREMENT BOARD WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLANIA 1MR.LIMITEn F1$Q79941 f7 3520 Abigail Lunger 2,394.57 3521 Washington County Regular Payroll Escrow Account 22,144.00 3522 Washington County Cash Disbursement Account 20,821.21 Transfer: PNC Bank 97,947.72 Transfer: Washington Co. Retirement Acct. 948,874.19 Total October 2024 Distributions 1,220,41 November 2024 Check Payee Amount 3524 Patrick Leadbitter $20.18 3525 Austin Nardozi $2,990.59 3526 Shane Smith $6,641.46 3527 Samantha Prentice $355.09 3528 Chasity Wise $281.64 3529 Dustin Banner $275.28 3530 Caden Myers $4,375.42 3531 Brianna Trainer $2,855.78 3532 Michael Lucas $404.31 3533 Cassidy Chambers $887.91 3534 Alisa Leonardi Reif $1,243.72 3535 Pershing LLC as trustee of IRA of Matthew McDanel $15,604.24 3536 Washington County Regular Payroll Escrow Account 21,947.96 3537 Washington County Cash Disbursement Account $27,305.78 Transfer: PNC Bank 71,361.37 Transfer: Washington Co. Retirement Acct. 948,273.30 Total November 2024 Distributions 1,104,924.03 247 MINUTE BOOK RETIREMENT BOARD WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLANIA IMF LIMITED F16OZ92.9LL December 2024 Check Payee Amount 3538 Hunter Czajkowski $755.40 3539 Katelyn Gillen $23.55 3540 Anthony Cacioppo $1,264.49 3541 Marlee Dvorak $707.31 3542 T'Aysa Johnson $276.85 3543 Sarah Gaddess $2,703.36 3544 Washington County Regular Payroll Escrow Account $22,335.50 3545 Washington County Cash Disbursement Account $69,762.64 Transfer: PNC Bank $67,583.11 Transfer: Washington Co. Retirement Acct. $947,050.18 Total December 2024 Distributions 11 ,462.39 Old Business None. New Business Mr. Sherman entertained a motion for the ratification of MOU email dated December 20, 2024,Tyler Pape's request to purchase part time service to vest for retirement. Motion moved by Ms.Janis and seconded by Mr. Maggi. Roll call vote taken: Ms. Sheader-yes;Ms. Rice-yes;Mr. Maggi-yes;Ms.Janis-yes;Mr. Sherman-yes Motion passed unanimously. Mr. Sherman entertained a motion for a request for approval of disability pension for Tracy West. Ms. West has been approved to receive Social Security disability pension dated July 2024. Motion moved by Ms.Janis and seconded by Mr. Maggi. Roll call vote taken: Ms. Sheatler-yes;Ms. Rice-yes;Mr. Maggi-yes;Ms.Janis-yes; Mr. Sherman-yes Motion passed unanimously. 248 MINUTE BOOK RETIREMENT BOARD WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLANIA MR LIMITED--E1-50.I929LQ_ Mr. Sherman noted for the record, Christopher Bioni to purchase prior service time, 11/28/16 through 6/11/21 in the amount of$21,700.10. Motion moved by Ms.Janis and seconded by Mr. Maggi. Roll call vote taken: Ms. Sheader—yes;Ms. Rice—yes;Mr. Maggi—yes;Ms.Janis—yes;Mr. Sherman—yes Motion passed unanimously. Portfolio Presentation—Lee Martin &Brad Hampton—Marquette Associates Brad Hampton begins by presenting an update on the U.S economy. Mr. Hampton states that it has become an interest rate driven economy and a subset to that is an inflation driven economy. Looking at page 11,Mr. Hampton states that when we think about inflation, the components are rising prices.An example of that right now is eggs. Everyone has seen a rise in egg prices. There is a lot going on outside of the typical consumer demand. Mr. Hampton adds that last year inflation was coming down,but towards the end of the year there were tariffs starting to come into play with the new administration coming in,which caused more volatility in the market and inflation has gone up some. Some volatility is expected with interest rates as well in the coming months. Mr. Hampton touches on the Federal Reserve, stating they cut rates twice in Q4,bringing its cumulative rate reduction to 100 basis points in 2024. It is questionable as to whether there will be any rate cuts in 2025 at this time. Mr. Hampton moves on to page 13, shifting the focus to the Global Economy. Highlighting performance,Mr. Hampton states that U.S. Equities was the Asset Class that did the best in Q4. Specifically, the Magnificent 7 stocks, because they are so large,when there is uncertainty,investors tend to pile into those names because they are stable.With rates staying higher in the US compared to the rest of the world,making the US dollar stronger and so negatively impacting returns from overseas. Mr. Martin moved on to present the Retirement Fund's Portfolio overview as of the 4`I' Quarter 2024.As of December 31, 2024, the Fund was valued at approximately$219.8 million with a second quarter net loss of-1.3% ($2.8M loss). He also stated that the positive attribution for the quarter were from Real Estate, Infrastructure and High Yield. The negative attribution for the quarter were from Actively Managed High-Quality Equity,Timber/Farmland and Private Equity, due to the use of a traditional market benchmark. Mr. Martin added that the fund gained$20.9 million over the last 3 years with a gross return of 3.8%. He states we are in the top 21% of the InvestMetrics US DB plan universe. He noted that currently we are seeing overall low investment management fees of 0.42% compared to the national average for defined benefit plans. 249 MINUTE BOOK RETIREMENT BOARD WASHINGTON COUNTY, PENNSYLANIA IMR t-imiTFn E18{Y79 9L[] Mr. Martin moves on in the presentation with a look at the Asset Allocations. Mr. Martin advises that Marquette is recommending turning back on the Real Estate dividend reinvestment at some point in 2025 so that the allocation can grow back to its IPS target of 5%. Mr. Martin added that there will be upcoming changes to Small Cap International and Global Equity Strategies. This will lower management fees as well. Mr. Martin then suggested that the County consider terminating or switching Twin Dividend Select to Large Core enhanced index approach. Mr. Martin wraps up the presentation with a look at the OPEB Fund's Portfolio overview as of the 4th Quarter 2024.As of December 31, 2024, the Fund was valued at approximately$28.1 million with a fourth quarter net loss of$558K. He also stated that the positive attribution for the quarter was from Defensive Equity. The negative attribution for the quarter were from Actively Managed High-Quality Equity and Real Estate. Mr. Martin added that the fund gained $14.5 million over the last 14 years with a gross return of 8.4%. He states we are in the top 25% of all DB plans over that period. He noted that currently we are seeing very low investment management fees of 0.34%. No Discussion followed. Mr. Sherman adjourned the meeting at approximately 11:15 a.m. THE FOREGOING MINUTES SUBMITTED FOR APPROVAL: 1,5- , 2025 ATTEST: