NCPERS 2012 Public Safety Employees Pension & Benefits Conference

Transcription

1 SUNDAY, OCTOBER 7 3:00 pm 5:30 pm Registration Opens NCPERS 2012 Public Safety Employees Pension & Benefits Conference FINAL AGENDA October 7 10 New Orleans, LA 5:00 pm 6:00 pm Welcoming Reception Royal Garden Terrace Complex MONDAY, OCTOBER 8 7:00 am 8:00 am Breakfast Esplanade Complex Sponsored by BlueCross BlueShield Association - NLO 7:00 am 1:00 pm Registration 8:00 am 1:00 pm Exhibition 8:00 am 1:30 pm General Session Grand Salon 8:00 am 8:15 am Welcome Remarks Mel Aaronson, President, The National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems 8:15 am 9:00 am American Renaissance: An Economic Outlook Bill Hackney, Atlanta Capital Management The outlook for the US economy and stock market is not as glum as you might think. All the bad news about unemployment, housing and the federal budget has masked a remarkable improvement in the global competitiveness of American industry. This slide presentation will reveal five key forces, which are leading 1

2 to a resurgence of the US industrial economy relative to key competitors like China, Europe and Japan. These forces have important positive implications for the US stock market and are likely to remain in effect, regardless of which political party wins in the November elections. 9:00 am 10:00 am Municipal Bankruptcies: Case Studies & Political Strategies for Public Safety Panelists: Lou Paulson, California Professional Firefighters; Tyson Crist, Ice Miller LLP; Terry A.M. Mumford, Ice Miller LLP Many municipalities are facing increased financial distress, and some have recently sought relief under Chapter 9 of the Bankruptcy Code. This presentation will provide an overview of the circumstances in which a municipality can obtain relief under Chapter 9, the potential impacts on collective bargaining agreements and contribution obligations, and issues that pension trustees should consider in the event of a Chapter 9 filing. 10:00 am 10:15 am Exhibit Break 10:15 am 11:00 am Keeping Public Safety Pensions Safe: Fiduciary & Ethics Issues Suzanne Dugan, Cohen Milstein Sellers & Toll, PLLC Luke Bierman, Northeastern University School of Law Public safety pension funds are facing greater challenges than ever. The financial meltdown, government gridlock, scandals across the country, moves to restructure plans, demeaning of public employees -- all these have fed a lack of trust in government generally and a crisis in public pension plans specifically. As concerns regarding underfunded liabilities grow and cost pressures for state and local governments continue to rise, ethics and fiduciary issues should be at the forefront. What lessons have been learned and what is the appropriate response going forward? The courts have referred to so-called "red flags" that are not, in and of themselves, evidence that something is amiss, but nevertheless require a prudent fiduciary to investigate further. If fiduciaries are asleep at the switch and allow an unethical environment to jeopardize public safety pension benefits, it can be argued that they are breaching their fiduciary duty by violating their duty of care and may be held responsible. An organization needs a vigorous and robust ethics program to create an ethical culture or maintain an existing ethical culture. This presentation will discuss what happens to organizations when their ethical culture is weak, and the elements of an effective ethics program. 11:00 am - 11:45 am Transformation of Disability Claims Management in Public Safety Plans Joseph Schimizzi, Managed Medical Review Organization, Inc. Jeffrey Deitch, Managed Medical Review Organization, Inc. This presentation will explain the value in applying disability standards to public pension disability claims, including the use of evidence-based disability standards, a clinically based workflow model, the importance of an independent appeal committee, and consistent and fair disability claim practices. Methodologies for benchmarking disability claim practices to analyze the economic value in newly instituted claims programs, while at the same time improving member satisfaction will also be discussed. 11:45 am - 12:00 pm Exhibit Break 2

3 12:00 pm 1:00 pm Impact of High Frequency Trading on Public Safety Plans Julian Regan, Marco Consulting Group On August 1, 2012 Knight Capital Group lost $440 million in 30 minutes due to a computer glitch. If the glitch hadn't been catch and fixed, it could have caused the whole market to crash. This event, coupled with the "Flash Crash" of May 6, 2010, show the dominance of high-frequency trading and other computerized algorithm based trading. This session will give an introduction and provide context to this new phenomenon on Wall Street and its potential impact on public sector plans. 1:00 pm 1:30 pm Libor Manipulation and Pension Fund Rights David Kovel, Kirby McInerney LLP Libor is the most important privately determined statistic used in the world of commerce, both domestic and international. Most short term borrowing is tied to Libor. It is also used as the basis to price fixed income futures, options, swaps and other derivative products traded on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and in the over-the-counter market. Insofar as public safety pension plans invested in instruments affected by Libor, their funds may have been harmed. Depending on their investments, they may have recourse to recover lost money. This presentation will discuss the mechanics of the recently exposed Libor fraud, explain the fallout, and explain ways to protect the interests of their funds in light of the fraud. 5:00 pm 6:00 pm Networking Reception TUESDAY, OCTOBER 9 7:00 am 8:00 am Breakfast Esplanade Complex Sponsored by BlueCross BlueShield Association - NLO 7:00 am 1:00 pm Registration 8:00 am 1:00 pm Exhibition 8:00 am 1:30 pm General Session Grand Salon 8:00 am 9:00 am 2012 National & State Elections Mara Liasson, National Public Radio (NPR) Mara Liasson is the national political correspondent for National Public Radio (NPR). Her reports can be heard regularly on NPR's award-winning newsmagazines "All Things Considered" and "Morning Edition." As the 2012 presidential election intensifies, this session will cover the candidates and key issues in both the presidential and congressional races. 3

4 9:00 am 9:45 am The ROI of Governance Martha Spano, Buck Global Investment Advisors Can you actually measure the ROI of a good governance structure? BGIA believes that a good governance structure can mitigate risks, avoid costly litigation, enhance time effectiveness and efficiencies which translates into dollars- SAVED. We also believe an effective governance structure can improve the performance of your asset portfolios. This presentation will review what good governance is, and the costs of an ineffective structure. Several models of good governance structures will be illustrated, discussing the advantages and disadvantages of each. Audience members will be provided with implementable recommendations, tools and metrics to assess their governance structure and to quantify the dollars saved. 9:45 am 10:30 am The Goldilocks Principle and Investment Return Assumptions James Rizzo, Gabriel, Roeder, Smith and Company There is a lot of talk lately about investment return assumptions mostly downward pressure on the assumption causing upward pressure on pension contributions. This comes at a time when poor investment returns have already been pushing pension contribution requirements higher and some governments are rolling back benefits in order to reduce their contributions. This session will address (1) how not to set your investment return assumption and (2) an objective and analytical process to develop and defend your investment return assumption. 10:30 am 10:45 am Exhibit Break 10:45 am 11:30 am NCPERS Fiduciary Liability Insurance Coverage Forum Karen Graham, Arthur J. Gallagher Risk Management Services Craig Arneson, Ullico Casualty Ann Hughes, Ullico Casualty Trustees of public safety pension plans face pressure from their plan s beneficiaries and the media. If accused of fiduciary liability, they may be personally liable for defending themselves until they are proven innocent. Many trustees have questions regarding the coverage of NCPERS s Fiduciary Liability Insurance solution, and this forum will review policy coverage specifics with fiduciary liability experts. 11:30 am 12:15 pm Alternative Asset Class: Infrastructure 101 Rick Miller, OMERS Administration Corporation The Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS) has gained global recognition for its expertise and leadership in infrastructure investments. Rick Miller, OMERS Chairman, will discuss the basics of OMERS direct-drive, active management approach to infrastructure investing. He will also share fundamental details about the $55 billion OMERS fund s long-term strategy to secure infrastructure assets that can generate stable, sustainable returns for plan members. Rick s presentation will provide audience members with a basic introduction to the important alignment between public safety employee pension plan members interests and the reliable returns associated with infrastructure assets. 4

5 12:15 pm 12:30 pm Exhibit Break 12:30 pm 1:15 pm Achieving Greater Control and Transparency in Hedge Fund Investments Jeff Schmidt, State Street Corporation The increasing allocation by institutions to hedge funds has brought to the forefront the debate on merits of commingled investments vs. managed accounts. Over the last five years, institutional investors have steadily increased their allocations to hedge funds whereby they now account for over 70% of assets under management in the industry (up from 25% in 2007). While good for the hedge fund industry, this movement has raised concerns for investors with regard to operational security, liquidity, transparency and control. Hedge fund managers are under pressure to provide a solution for their investors and one of the fastest growing solutions is managed accounts. In this presentation, we will discuss the various motivations for the shift towards managed accounts. It will focus on advantages and challenges of managed accounts, make or buy options, and different kinds of structures being used in the market today. 1:15 pm 1:45 pm How Public Safety Unions Can Negotiate Proactively Panelists: Kathy Harrell, National FOP Pension Chairman; John Niemiec, Fairfax County Professional Firefighters & Paramedics; Aaron Hanson, City of Omaha Police & Fire Retirement During this panel discussion union leaders from the international and local unions will share their perspectives and best practices on ways in which public safety unions can negotiate proactively on pension and other benefits during these harsh economic and political times. 5:00 pm 6:00 pm Networking Reception WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10 7:00 am 8:00 am Breakfast Esplanade Complex Sponsored by BlueCross BlueShield Association - NLO 7:00 am 1:00 pm Registration 8:00 am 11:00 am Exhibition 8:00 am 1:30 pm General Session Grand Salon 5

6 8:00 am 9:00 am GASB Update Greg Stump, EFI Actuaries Michael Moran, Goldman Sachs Asset Management On June 25, 2012, the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) approved new accounting and reporting standards for pensions provided through state and local governments. GASB Statement 68 will apply to governments that sponsor or contribute to state or local pension plans. It will establish new financial reporting requirements for most governments that provide their employees with pension benefits. GASB Statement 67 will apply to state and local pension plans established as trusts or similar arrangements. This session will tell you how these new rules will affect your pension plan. 9:00 am 10:00 am Engaging Corporations to Reform Executive Compensation Greg Kinczewski, Marco Consulting Group A coalition of Institutional investors including NCPERS members City of Philadelphia Public Employees Retirement System, Firefighters Pension System of the City of Kansas City, Missouri, and Miami Firefighters Relief and Pension Fund engaged 10 major companies during the 2012 proxy season to reform their executive pay. The group targeted companies that received minimal support for their executive pay plans in The strategy was to file the same package of reform proposals at all 10 companies, consisting of: No payment of gross ups on excise taxes; Requiring that company executives retain a significant percentage of the shares they acquire through compensation programs; Limiting the acceleration of equity awards when there is a change-in-control; Having an independent Chairman of the Board The results were very positive 17 of the proposals were withdrawn because of the companies positive response and the ones that went to a vote averaged more than 30%--including a majority vote in favor of an independent chair proposal. The coalition will continue to engage four of the original target companies in 2013 and new companies that received poor say on pay votes in 2012 will be added. The coalition hopes that additional NCPERS members will participate in the engagement. 10:00 am 10:15 am Exhibit Break 10:15 am 11:00 am The Growth Outlook of Emerging Markets Tom Speechley, Abraaj Capital A number of studies indicate that Public Safety Employee Retirement Systems are increasingly interested in investing in emerging markets private. The challenge of generating portfolio returns is especially prominent for public safety pensions given the retirement age profile of their participants. However, many public pension fund trustees and administrators are not as familiar with these markets as they would like to be. This session will address this knowledge gap by providing attendees an overview of multiple emerging markets from Latin America and Asia to Africa and the Middle East. The presentation would cover the demographic, economic, and political trends that are driving growth in emerging markets which are expected to make up over fifty percent of all global growth in coming years. Moreover, the presentation 6

7 will cover the specific opportunities and challenges of various emerging markets, the importance of investing with sustainability in mind, the different profiles of public and private equities in these markets, and the lessons Abraaj has learned from over two decades of investing experience in these markets. 11:00 am 11:45 am Alternatives to the Rescue David Fann, TorreyCove Capital Partners Steven Ezzes, Mariner Investment Group The public pension world is rife with talk of how many plans are significantly underfunded. Given the lower investment return environment expected in the near- and medium- term future (as reflected in decreasing actuarial rates of return), normal allocations to traditional asset classes are not likely to be sufficient to maintain funding status. Therefore, allocations to better-performing asset classes should be an important part of a public pension s strategy going forward. This presentation will demonstrate the outperformance of these alternative strategies in comparison to traditional asset classes, using actual return data relating to public pensions. 11:45 am 12:00 pm Exhibit Break 12:00 pm 12:45 pm Private-Public Pension Plans: The New Dating Game? Cathie Eitelberg, The Segal Company Private-Public pension arrangements can help bring pensions to the private sector and achieve retirement security for all American workers. One such option, the Secure Choice Pension, was introduced in 2011 as a natural progression from industry-based, multi-employer plans. Since then, alternatives for these privatepublic plans have come from organizations, think-tanks, states and federal policymakers. It is now time to have a national conversation about this approach. Industry expert Cathie Eitelberg will explore such alternatives in this session and offer a comprehensive overview of and update on the state of private-public pension initiatives in the United States. 12:45 pm 1:30 pm Social Media 101 James Spellos, Meeting U You've heard about tweets, status updates, likes, and friending. You may have even dabbled in social networking yourself. Whatever your experience or inexperience, this session will advise you about what you should and shouldn't be doing on today's most-popular social networks and how it can benefit you personally and professionally. 7