Fiduciant Advisors delivered an informational update on Torrington's pension funds and the city's OPEB trust during a nonmeeting presentation on Nov. 5 after the joint board of trustees failed to reach quorum.

Chris Casimir of Fiduciant told trustees the firm completed a corporate merger that does not change the service team assigned to the city. He also warned that Principal, the custodian bank for the plans, will stop accepting paper instructions in the new year; Casimir said the city may either use Principal's online portal or authorize Fiduciant to execute transfer and trading instructions on the city's behalf, and he said Fiduciant would provide the paperwork to enable that arrangement at no additional fee.

Casimir reviewed the actuarial and investment materials in the packet. He reported the employee pension plan is about 82% funded and the police-and-fire plan about 66% funded. Fiduciant described the plans' 6.75% return assumption as in line with peers for similarly sized plans in the state and said the assumption was appropriate given the plans' asset allocation.

On performance, Casimir showed calendar-year returns through September. He said fixed-income and global-equity markets had been strong through that period and reported both pension plans were up roughly 13% year-to-date through September and about 4.5% in the third quarter. Multi-year returns were materially above the actuarial assumption in several horizons, he said.

Casimir also praised the city's decision to form and fund an OPEB trust. He said the trust contains nearly $3 million and has returned a little north of 12% over the prior 12 months through September; many comparable municipalities still operate OPEB on a pay-as-you-go basis, he noted.

No formal action was taken at the session; trustees were invited to submit follow-up questions by email and the board will reschedule any items that require a formal vote when a quorum is available.