City of San Diego Retired Employees Association
General Meeting Minutes
October 10, 2017
The minutes for the September 2017 meeting and the September Treasurer’s Report were approved.
Joan McNamara reminded members that reservations for the backstage tour of the Old Globe must be made by October 22.
Jim Baross asked for nominations for Board positions; none were forthcoming.
PROGRAM
The program was SDCERS annual meeting preview; the annual meeting itself will be on October 20.
Marcelle Voorhies Rossman, Chief Benefits Officer, announced that staff will be recommending that the SDCERS Board approve the 13th Check. She also announced that a test run of the disaster recovery plan was made in March and all pensions were properly disbursed.
Senior Investment Officer Anders Norrman had some very good news: the rate of return on investments in June was 13.4%. SDCERS is in the top 18th percentile of over 400 plans nationwide, and in the top 5 percent for 20-year returns.
Chief Executive Officer Mark Hovey stated that the actions of the SDCERS Board in September to lower the assumed rate of return, while controversial, actually makes good fiscal sense and benefits the City. By smoothing the City’s contributions, the City will save $300 million over 10 years.
Hovey said he was very proud of SDCERS, and assured members that it is on very solid footing. Assets are now over $8 billion, up from a low of $3.2 billion in 2009.
Jim Baross presented Mark Hovey with a Tivoli radio as a token of our appreciation for his work on behalf of retirees.