Minutes - 11/19/2015 - Firefighter's Pension Fund BoardMINUTES OF A SPECIAL MEETING OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES
OAK BROOK FIREFIGHTERS’ PENSION FUND
November 19, 2015
A special meeting of the Board of Trustees of the Oak Brook Firefighters’ Pension Fund was held on Thursday,
November 19, 2015 at 8:00 a.m., at the Butler Government Center, Upper Level Conference Room located at
1200 Oak Brook Road, Oak Brook, IL 60523, pursuant to notice, to conduct special business.
CALL TO ORDER: President Michael Erickson called the meeting to order at 8:16 a.m.
ROLL CALL: Upon roll call the following answered:
Present: President Michael Erickson, Secretary John Fagan, Trustees Mark Fleishman,
Timothy Schlindwein and George Kouba
Absent: None
Also Present: None
PUBLIC COMMENT: There was no public comment.
DISCUSS/APPROVE RESPONSES TO RFP FOR INVESTMENT CONSULTANT SERVICES: The
Board reviewed and discussed seven (7) responses to their Request for Proposal for Investment Consultant
Services from the following firms:
Cantu
Wells Fargo
Graystone
Sawyer Falduto
IPS
Lowry
PNC
The Board started with a general discussion about whether it needs a consultant, or whether it should manage
funds on its own. The Board came to a consensus that it needs to retain advisory services for the following
reasons:
A. A reasonable person would expect that a board managing funds would seek professional investment
advice; and
B. The Board does not have broad or timely enough knowledge to assess market changes and make
investment decisions accordingly.
The Board then agreed on criteria to judge the competing firms:
A. Level of Investment Advisor Control: The Board agreed that it would continue to maintain a non-
discretionary advisor relationship. Meaning, that the Board will retain its fiduciary responsibility with
respect to sale/purchase of specific mutual funds, asset class allocation, investment policy etc. while
taking the advisor’s consul into account.
B. Fees: The Board seeks to keep costs for advisor services reasonable. The current advisor, IPS, charges
15 basis points on the first 10M in assets, and 10 basis points beyond that. The Board agreed to consider
this rate as a general baseline of comparison among advisors.
C. Prior Experience with Police/Fire Pension Funds: Since the pension fund is uniquely constrained by
statute in its investment options, the Board is seeking a firm with previous experience with police and
fire pension funds in the State of Illinois.
Cantu: Eliminated because they were seeking a discretionary relationship, and they have no experience with
Illinois police or fire pension funds.
Wells Fargo: Eliminated due to fees (30 basis point fee structure).
Graystone: Eliminated due to fees (30 basis point fee structure).
Oak Brook Firefighters’ Pension Fund
Minutes of Meeting – November 19, 2015
Page 2 of 2
Sawyer-Falduto: Will be invited to interview on the basis of vast experience with Illinois police and fire
pension funds; however, they are requesting a discretionary relationship. This will need to be discussed during
the interview.
IPS, the current advisor: Will be retained unless the interview process identifies a better fit for the Board.
Lowry: Will be asked to interview due to previous experience with fire and police pension funds. Lowry is also
reporting very good returns. The Board will attempt to determine during the interview what they are doing
differently to generate those returns.
PNC: Will be invited to interview due to their experience with Illinois police and fire pension funds. There were
some concerns expressed that banks in general are not focused on the equities side of investing.
A motion was made by Trustee Erickson and seconded by Trustee Schlindwein to direct Lauterbach & Amen to
send emails to all candidates informing them of the Board’s decision, and inviting the eligible candidates for
interviews on February 24, 2016 on the following schedule:
8:00 – 8:45: PNC Bank
9:00 – 9:45: Lowry
10:00 – 10:45: Sawyer-Falduto.
Motion carried by unanimous by voice vote.
CLOSED SESSION: There was no closed session.
ADJOURNMENT: A motion was made by Trustee Erickson and seconded by Trustee Schlindwein to adjourn
the meeting at 11:40 a.m. Motion carried by unanimous voice vote.
Respectfully submitted,
Michael Erickson, President;
John Fagan, Secretary Date approved:____________
Minutes prepared by Pension Services Administrator, Cheryl Kessler