Needham Retirement Board signs off on minutes, payroll and expense warrants; schedules auditor and administrator follow-ups

The Town of Needham Retirement Board on June 17 approved routine business including the May meeting minutes, membership changes and payroll and expense warrants, and spent much of the meeting reviewing investment performance and an audit report while planning next steps on hiring and audit follow-up.

The board first approved the May minutes after a motion by Mr. Merles, seconded and carried on a roll-call vote recorded in the meeting packet. The board then accepted the membership changes on a subsequent motion and approved the payroll warrant and the June expense warrant by roll call. The payroll warrant amount in the meeting audio is transcribed as “1,370,4762”; that figure is unclear in the record and staff noted they will confirm the exact amount in the official packet. Staff also reminded members that a cost-of-living adjustment (COLA) will appear in retirees’ July paychecks while the board will see the COLA reflected in the August packet.

Board members reviewed the April net-income statement and credited strong market returns for moving the fund size (discussed in the meeting as around $294 million). Members discussed fee pressure at large pooled managers, noting PRIM charged approximately $63,000 in management fees in April and that PRIM’s increasing use of hedged strategies and ‘‘risk management fees’’ was a conference takeaway. One attendee said PRIM currently has roughly 10% of allocations in hedge funds and that fee structures are becoming less transparent.

Members also raised a separate policy concern about a pending state budget measure that, according to attendees at a recent conference, could redirect PRIM’s excess earnings to support state budgeting or employee COLAs. The transcript referenced possible bill numbers (spoken as “5306 or 5389”); board members described the proposal as one to watch but did not take a formal position during the meeting.

The board reviewed the final audit packet (the firm’s report was delivered by email and not printed at the meeting). Members noted a typographical date range in the audit cover (reported in the packet as January 2019–December 2022, while the audit scope actually reached 2023) and said they primarily want the management report rather than the full 150‑page packet. Audit follow-up items discussed included requests for missing supporting documentation (for example, marriage or birth certificates for some retired members’ files) and a list of flagged overpayments and underpayments.

Several members said they do not want to initiate any recoveries or penalties until the board fully understands the auditors’ calculations. The board agreed to invite the auditor (and representatives from PTG, the board’s administrator/vendor referenced in the discussion) to present methods and examples so members can verify how figures were calculated before authorizing any remedial action.

On administrative matters, Mr. Merles reported the recruitment for a retirement system administrator: 17 resumes were received, four candidates were invited for interviews, one withdrew, two were interviewed and one final interview was scheduled for the coming Tuesday. The board plans a separate candidate interview meeting during the week of July 8, with the regular July meeting to follow on July 15.

Other business included a review of bank reconciliations and funds held at TD Bank (staff said the board currently earns about 2.99% on TD balances), discussion about whether to move some operating cash to PRIT, and recognition that some recurring audit findings stem from historical recordkeeping practices. Board members also agreed to invite the town treasurer to a future meeting so staff can coordinate reconciliations and potentially ease recurring audit comments.

The public portion of the meeting ended when the chair announced the board would go into executive session to discuss cybersecurity; staff provided a separate webinar link for that session. The board paused the public recording at that point.

Next steps: staff will confirm and correct any unclear dollar amounts in the posted warrants, schedule the auditors and PTG to present calculation examples for the board, and convene administrator candidate interviews during the week of July 8.