A meeting of the Governing Board of the Colorado Retirement Association was held on August 19, 2022, at 9:00 a.m.
The following were present at the meeting:
- Darius Allen, Board Chairperson Pro-tem
- Tobe Allumbaugh, Board Member – Participated by Zoom
- Jerry DiTullio, Board Member – Participated by Zoom
- Terri Schafer, Board Member – Participated by Zoom
- Adam Ford, Board Member – Participated by Zoom
- Meghan Martinez, Board Member – Participated by Zoom
- Tim Mullen, Executive Director
- Ed Krisor, Legal Counsel
- Denis Rice, Chief Financial Officer
- Mike Whalen, Retirement Plan Services Director
- Matt Evans, Retirement Services Coordinator
- Lois Kruse, Office Administrator
Chris Felton, Board Chairperson was not in attendance.
Board Chairperson Pro-tem, Darius Allen, called the meeting to order at 9:01 a.m.
Mr. Allen called for any deletions or modifications to the agenda. As there were none, Terri Schafer motioned to accept the agenda as presented. Jerry DiTullio seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Mr. Allen asked members of the Board if they reviewed the minutes from the June 17, 2022 meeting and if there were any comments. There being none, a motion was made by Jerry DiTullio to approve the minutes as presented. Terri Schafer seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Innovest-Quarterly Update – June 30, 2022:
Wendy Dominguez, Principal and President of Innovest Portfolio Solutions, investment advisor for the CRA investment menu portfolio began the presentation. Ms. Dominguez noted that there have been three new partners added at Innovest. She briefly gave a historical overview that demonstrated CRA has acted as a good fiduciary throughout the partnership with Innovest since 1998.
The virtual call experienced technical difficulties. After a short break to fix the issue, the meeting resumed at 9:20 a.m.
Wendy discussed investment menu trending topics which included ESG (environmental, social and governance accounts), CITs (Collective Investment Trusts), Crypto (crypto currency), managed accounts, brokerage accounts, and retirement income accounts.
Ms. Dominguez reviewed the 401(a) and 457(b) annual fees as of June 30, 2021 and noted the information will be updated in the next quarter.
Next, she gave the plan assets, markets, and consumer sentiment reviews. The equity performance report as of June 30, 2022 reflects that current performance is low, however, the annualized performance for three years, five years, and ten years is still good.
Peter Mustian, Partner with Innovest, discussed the manager scorecard and watch list with no recommended changes at this time. Mr. Mustian then reviewed the table of returns which reflects current poor performance and good annualized performance in the three-year, five-year, and ten-year benchmarks.
Mr. Mullen thanked Wendy and Peter for their time then the Innovest team left the meeting.
Mr. Mullen noted that the second quarter information from Galliard Capital Management, Inc. the association’s investment advisor for the book value fund portfolio, was included in the BOD packet.
Entity Qualification Review – Town of Lyons:
Tim Mullen gave a brief overview of the Town of Lyons. Ed Krisor, CRA legal counsel acknowledged the Town on Lyons met qualifications to participate in CRA’s 401(a) and 457(b) plans. Jerry DiTullio motioned to accept the Town of Lyons into CRA plans. Terri Schafer seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
CRA Audit Engagement Letter:
Ed Krisor discussed the proposed modifications to the original audit engagement letter from Plante & Moran, PLLC, CRA’s auditors. Mr. Allen asked for a motion to accept the Plante & Moran audit engagement with or without the suggested modifications. Jerry DiTullio made the motion and Adam Ford seconded and it was passed unanimously.
Select a Board Vice-Chairperson:
As the discussion was beginning, Jerry DiTullio motioned to table the item until Chairperson Chris Felton is in attendance at the next BOD meeting. Adam Ford agreed and there was a consensus to table the item until then.
CRA Activity Updates:
Tim Mullen noted that an operational position is vacant and the candidate review is underway. Client Service Managers are scheduling more in-person entity and participant meetings. All pandemic protocols are being maintained at this time.
Entity participant agreement review and negotiation are ongoing. All flood damage repairs are complete. There has been a re-organization of the file room as well.
Customer service wait times at Empower are still somewhat long, indicating additional work still needs to be done.
Auditors will begin the field work September 19, 2022. The audit report is expected for the October 21, 2022 meeting.
Cyber insurance has been negotiated with a savings as well as additional coverage.
Upcoming conferences include Colorado Public Plan Coalition (CPPC), Special District Association (SDA), and National Association of Government Defined Contribution Administrators (NAGDA).
Meetings with Town of Burlington and Town of Crestone may bring both onboard with CRA.
An RFP will be released for possible record keeping services as the contract with Empower will terminate June 30, 2023.
Expense Reports:
Mr. Allen asked for any comments regarding the current expense reports. As none were expressed, the expense reports were accepted as summitted.
The next meeting of the CRA Board of Directors will be held Friday, September 16, 2022.
Darius Allen asked if anyone had any additional questions or items to discuss. There being no further business to come before the Terri Schafer motioned to adjourn the meeting. Adam Ford seconded the motion and it passed unanimously and the meeting adjourned at 10:18 a.m.
