A meeting of the Governing Board of the Colorado Retirement Association was held on February 19, 2021, at 9:00 a.m.
The following were present at the meeting:
- Chris Felton, Board Chairman
- Paul Danley, Vice Chairman
- Darius Allen, Board Member
- Tobe Allumbaugh, Board Member
- Jerry DiTullio, Board Member
- Tim Mullen, Executive Director/Chief Financial Officer
- Ed Krisor, Legal Counsel
- Mike Whalen, Retirement Plan Services Director
- Katie Dirksen, Retirement Services Coordinator
- Lois Kruse, Office Administrator
Adam Ford, Board Member was not in attendance.
Chris Felton called the meeting to order at 9:01 a.m.
Chris Felton asked members of the Board if they reviewed the minutes from the December 18, 2020 meeting and if there were any comments. There being none, a motion was made by Darius Allen to approve the minutes as presented. Tobe Allumbaugh seconded the motion. Jerry DiTullio abstained from voting as he did not participate in the December 18th meeting. All other Board members voted aye and the motion passed.
Chris Felton modified the February 19, 2021 agenda.
The Executive Session, pursuant to §24-6-402(4)(f) C.R.S. for the purpose of discussion of staff personnel matters, was cancelled.
Ed Krisor presented Resolution #1 (in the series of 2021 resolutions), Designation of Public Place for Posting of Meeting Notices.
This posting resolution is required for governmental agencies and is to be adopted at the first Board of Directors meeting of the respective calendar year.
Tobe Allumbaugh motioned to adopt Resolution #1 as presented. Darius Allen seconded the motion and it passed unanimously.
Innovest-Quarterly Update:
Wendy Dominguez, Peter Mustian and Jared Martin from Innovest Portfolio Solutions, CRA’s investment advisor, were admitted to the meeting.
Innovest provided CRA with a presentation on CRA’s custom Target Date Portfolios. Wendy Dominguez started with an overview of the custom target date fund structure. This included the history of the portfolios; the through retirement investment glide path approach; utilization of best-in-class investment managers and CRA’s economies of scale; and the ability to control the underlying allocations with a custom approach. Wendy Dominguez also discussed fiduciary responsibilities, custom target date portfolio fees versus off the shelf passive portfolio fees, and increased litigation around fees and management of custom target date funds.
Peter Mustian continued the presentation discussing various target date fund portfolio approaches and model builds. Considerations included the possible restructuring of the existing target date portfolio approach. The discussion also included confirming CRA’s approach and commitment to the current customized target date fund structure. The discussion continued with an analysis of the expense ratios for the components of the target date funds. It was determined that CRA would continue with its current custom target date fund approach. At the next Board meeting in March, Innovest will provide additional analysis regarding expense ratios within and asset allocations of the custom target date funds.
Wendy Dominguez then presented the 4th Quarter-December 31, 2020 Portfolio Review. She also touched briefly on industry wide cybersecurity concerns.
Peter Mustian reviewed the Manager’s Report Card and indicated that it was a fairly clean report. Neuberger-Berman remains on the Watch List for the quarter ending December 31, 2020.
Peter Mustian also noted that CRA funds are performing well with strong returns, including some target date portfolios with a top ranking for the quarter ended December 31, 2020.
The Innovest team exited the meeting following their update.
CRA Activity Update:
Tim Mullen informed the Board that the CRA Scholarship is in its 15th year. The scholarship announcement was sent to all member employers and participants with valid emails. The announcement directs interested parties to the CRA website with additional details, scholarship requirements and a scholarship application. The submission deadline for applications and supporting documentation is March 25, 2021. The proposed 2021 CRA scholarship winners will be presented to the Board at the April 16, 2021 meeting.
The election for the vacant CRA Board of Directors position, representing Municipalities and Special Districts, was opened on February 18, 2021. Voting closes at midnight on March 18, 2021. The two candidates are Thomas Holman with Garfield County Communications Authority and Terri Schafer with Mile High Flood District.
Tim Mullen noted there have been a few in-person site visits conducted by the CRA Client Service Managers with member employers and participants. A majority of these interactions are still being held remotely. Current COVID-19 protocols and precautions are being followed for these in-person meetings.
CRA and Empower recently turned-on paperless enrollment for an employer group. It was well received.
Tim Mullen shared the schedule for the in-person reopening of the CRA office for those who are not already in the office full time. April 1, 2021, CRA personnel will be on site sixty percent of the time. By September 1, 2021, the CRA personnel will be in the office full time, barring any significant changes or unforeseen issues with the current pandemic.
Mike Whalen gave an overview of the new Salesforce reporting tool created to document and track service events with participants. This tracking tool was rolled out in early January. Mike Whalen shared a report and chart with the Board summarizing the participant activities over multiple areas. CRA is also working on a similar tracking tool for member employer interactions. Tim Mullen gave kudos to Mike Whalen and Rick Chase for their hard work on spearheading and implementing this project.
Expense Reports:
Chris Felton asked the members of the Board if there were any questions or concerns regarding the expense reports. There being none, the reports were accepted as presented.
The next meeting of the CRA Board of Directors will be held on Friday, March 19, 2021.
There being no further business to come before the board, a motion was made by Chris Felton and seconded by Jerry DiTullio to adjourn the meeting. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting adjourned at 10:50 a.m.
