Month: July 2015

Each year, the Board of Fire and Police Pension Commissioners elect its Officers of the Board during the last meeting in July.  On July 16, 2015, the Board elected Commissioners Robert von Voigt and Pedram Salimpour as the new President and Vice President, respectively. 

Commissioner von Voigt was originally elected to the Board by active Police members on December 1, 2008 and succeeds Belinda Vega, who served as Board President since July 2014.  As President, he will preside over the Board’s primary responsibility to oversee the administration of the pension system; its assets, investments, actuarial services, rules and regulations.  Additionally, the Board President provides leadership in furthering the mission of LAFPP “to advance the health and retirement security of those who dedicate their careers and risk their lives to protect the people of Los Angeles,” and the delivery of professional and prompt service to over 25,000 active and retired members.  The Board President also exercises the following duties:

• Appoints Board members to committees;
• Approves the Board agenda; presides at all Board meetings, ensuring that such meetings are conducted in an efficient manner and in accordance with the City Charter and Administrative Code, applicable public meeting laws, and relevant Board policies;
• Determines who shall act as spokesperson for the System should the need arise; and,
• Approves the travel expenses incurred by the General Manager and the Board, as appropriate.

As Vice President, Commissioner Pedram Salimpour will assume the duties of the Board President when the President is absent or if the President should delegate the Vice President to act.  He will also assume the duties of the President if the President becomes unable to carry out his or her duties.  Commissioner Salimpour was appointed to the Board in May 2013 by Mayor Villaraigosa and re-appointed in November 2013 by Mayor Garcetti.  Commissioner Salimpour succeeds Commissioner von Voigt, who served as the Board’s Vice President since July 2014.

The Board consists of nine commissioners.  Commissioner von Voigt is one of the four Board members elected by plan members and Commissioner Salimpour is one of the five commissioners appointed by the Mayor.

LAFPP recently selected seven new emerging managers in the fixed income, large cap, small cap and micro cap asset classes, based on multiple searches initiated over the past year. Approximately $225 million in total is being allocated to the seven new managers. The selected firms include: GIA Partners and Semper Capital Management for fixed income; Channing Capital Management and PHOCAS Financial for small cap equities; Granite Investment Partners for micro cap equities; and Oakbrook Investments and Redwood Investments for large cap domestic equities. Each of the firms was allocated $25 million with the exception of Channing Capital Management and PHOCAS Financial who were allocated $50 million each. Approximately $100 million of the allocation was shifted from an existing fund of funds manager to fund the new managers.

This recent $225 million allocation reinforces LAFPP’s commitment to its long-standing Emerging Manager Program. Currently, LAFPP has over $1.9 billion invested with emerging and diverse investment firms across all asset classes. As a percent of assets under management (AUM), the Fund has one of the highest percentages of any pension fund across the nation.

Although not widely known, Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions (LAFPP) has been a leader in this area since the late 1980s. LAFPP began hiring and engaging emerging and diverse managers in 1987 and over the many years, various managers have been hired to manage equities, fixed income, real estate and private equity. LAFPP has also employed diverse consultants who have provided different services to the Fund over these many years.  

LAFPP’s Emerging Manager Program consists of hiring direct managers and fund of funds managers in the stock and bond portfolio. Altogether, the Fund has over $1.5 billion invested with diverse stock and bond managers. Many of the emerging managers in the Program started with smaller accounts (AUM), but their AUMs for the Fund have grown larger as they have been successful in growing the Fund’s investments.

The Fund has committed or funded over $390 million to diverse private equity and real estate managers. The Fund created a Specialized Manager Program to  invest in newer private equity funds.