Category: Newsroom

Election – Board of Fire and Police Pension Commissioners

Posted on by Oscar Diaz

ELECTION NOTIFICATION

An election to select the Police Department Retired Member of the Board of Fire and Police Pension Commissioners (Board) is scheduled on February 23, 2024. The candidate elected will serve the term beginning July 1, 2024 and ending June 30, 2029.

BOARD MEMBER DUTIES – The Board exercises the prudent person standard in the discharge of its duties. It has sole and exclusive fiduciary responsibility to administer the Fire and Police Pension System (System) and its assets; has the authority to set and adopt investment policies for over $29 billion in fund assets; and has the duty to establish actuarial assumptions and adopt rules and regulations necessary to administer the System.

Preparation for regular and special meetings requires an individual to commit hours of advanced reading of Board Reports and disability cases. The Board normally meets on the first and third Thursdays of each month at 8:30 a.m. (PT). Most meetings are from three to four hours.

ELECTION PROCESS – Only retired, sworn Los Angeles Police Department members of the System are eligible to run and vote for this Board seat.  Members who are interested in becoming a candidate are required to complete and submit the attached Notice of Intent form which was mailed with this Election Notification. Signature gathering by eligible members is not required to run as a candidate.

Along with the Notice of Intent, the candidate has the option to submit an Occupational Ballot Designation and a typewritten Statement of Qualifications. The Occupational Ballot Designation will be printed under the candidate’s name and should consist of three words to describe the following: (A) the current principal profession, vocation or occupation of the candidate, or (B) the principal profession, vocation or occupation of the candidate during the last calendar year immediately before the filing of the Notice of Intent to become a candidate. The Statement of Qualifications may include information on education, work experience, years of service, date of retirement, and other relevant qualifications and shall not exceed 300 words in length.

Starting at 8:00 a.m. (PT) on December 13, 2023, candidates who wish to qualify for the ballot are required to provide the following documents: 1) Notice of Intent; 2) Occupational Ballot Designation (optional); and 3) Statement of Qualifications for Office (optional). The three (3) approved methods of submittal are detailed below. Documents received any other way will NOT be accepted.

  1. Hand Delivery: Candidates may hand deliver the completed forms by visiting the Office of the City Clerk – Election Division (Election Division) at Piper Technical Center, 555 Ramirez Street, Space 300, Los Angeles, CA 90012.
  2. Mail: Candidates may submit the completed forms via U.S. Postal Service using the paid-postage envelope provided along with this Election Notification.
  3. Email: Candidates may submit the completed forms via email to Clerk.ElectionAdmin@lacity.org.

The completed Notice of Intent must be received by the Election Division by the deadline of 5:00 p.m. (PT) on December 22, 2023.

Eligible voters will receive a ballot in the mail. Voters may choose to return their ballot via mail or may deposit it at the drop box located at the Election Division. Ballots received any other way will NOT be accepted. All completed ballots must be received by the Election Division by 5:00 p.m. (PT) on February 23, 2024 to be counted.

Sworn, retired members of the Los Angeles Police Department who become eligible within 30 days prior to the Election and wish to vote in the Election should obtain a Certificate of Eligibility (Certificate) from the Department of Fire and Police Pensions (LAFPP). LAFPP is located at 701 E. Third Street, Suite 200, Los Angeles, CA 90013. Beginning at 8:00 a.m. (PT) on February 13, 2024, after securing a Certificate, the newly eligible voter may present themselves in person at the Election Division and receive a ballot.

The ballots will be tallied on February 27, 2024 in the presence of the observers designated by each candidate. The Election Division will furnish to the Board the official certified results of the election within 14 days after the date of election. In the event that no candidate receives a majority of all votes cast in the initial election, a runoff election shall be conducted on Friday, April 19, 2024 for the two (2) candidates receiving the highest number of votes.

QUESTIONS – Inquiries regarding the election process may be directed to the Election Division at (213) 978-0444 or by email at Clerk.ElectionAdmin@lacity.org. Inquiries may also be directed to the Administrative Services Section of the Department of Fire and Police Pensions at (213) 279-3080.

THE STRATEGIC VALUE OF INVESTING IN EMERGING MANAGERS

Posted on by Stephen Bayutas

Message from Bryan Fujita

LAFPP CHIEF INVESTMENT OFFICER

To meet our ongoing commitment to maintain Los Angeles Fire and Police Pensions’ (“LAFPP”) financial health and fulfill our fiduciary duties to you, LAFPP’s investment program deploys a variety of diversification strategies.  Evaluating a wide range of investment opportunities—beyond those offered by the most well-known investment firms in the industry—and engaging with lesser-known Emerging Managers allows us to identify new and/or unique investment strategies that have the potential to produce strong returns while providing diversification to LAFPP’s investment portfolio. The Board of Fire and Police Pension Commissioners (Board) established a program to invest with emerging investment firms in 1991.  An Emerging Manager is typically a small firm that may be a new entrant to the market or relatively early in its business lifecycle.  LAFPP first identifies Emerging Managers based on the type and amount of assets a firm manages. Emerging Managers generally have less operational resources compared to established firms, making it challenging to mass market their products to a large universe of potential investors.  Therefore, LAFPP seeks to enhance its own outreach efforts to identify promising firms and investment opportunities.

In January of this year, the Board adopted the 2025-2027 Strategic Plan, which includes Strategic Goal #2: Enhance Outreach by Promoting Inclusivity and Engagement with Emerging Investment Managers.  This goal strengthens the Board’s longstanding Emerging Manager program by broadening our engagement with emerging investment firms when considering investment opportunities. 

Investing with skilled Emerging Managers offers LAFPP several advantages.  By investing with these managers early in their lives, we secure opportunities to grow with successful managers over the long term.  This can be particularly important with capacity-constrained investments like private equity funds where it is difficult to access established, high-performing managers when an investor does not have an existing relationship.  In addition, Emerging Managers generally operate with fewer assets under management and may have unique investment sourcing capabilities, allowing them to execute differentiated strategies from established firms.

To maintain the integrity and performance standards of LAFPP’s investment portfolio, Emerging Managers must meet rigorous qualification standards to be considered for a contract with LAFPP.  The professionals who operate an Emerging Manager firm must have significant investment experience implementing a thoughtful and repeatable investment process, exceptional past performance records (either in their current or similar past roles), and the ability to service the needs of a large public pension fund such as LAFPP, among other factors.  LAFPP selects all investment managers, both emerging and established, based on their proven ability to deliver superior risk-adjusted returns and address the investment needs of the portfolio.

LAFPP selects all investment managers, both emerging and established, based on their proven ability to deliver superior risk-adjusted returns and address the investment needs of the portfolio.

Under California law and the Board’s fiduciary duties, the Board must award all contracts only on the merits, and the Board must award investment contracts according to the terms of LAFPP’s Investment Policies.  When searching for the best investment opportunities, we must ensure that the Board considers the widest range of suitable options.  One way we achieve this is by conducting outreach across the Emerging Manager universe, which includes outreach to smaller firms which may be owned by minorities, women, persons with disabilities, U.S. Military veterans, and/or lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer (LGBTQ) individuals, to educate them about opportunities to compete for contracts with LAFPP.  This expanded outreach happens alongside and complements the general outreach we conduct to all interested firms, emerging and established, via traditional means (e.g., advertising in trade journals, screening investment databases, and posting requests for proposals to the City of Los Angeles’ contracting opportunities website, RAMPLA.org).  

LAFPP remains one of the most well-funded and well-run pension funds in the country.

Given that Emerging Managers are smaller firms with limited resources, we mitigate potential business risk in our portfolio from investing with Emerging Managers by allocating smaller investment amounts across multiple managers, ensuring portfolio diversification and resilience in case a manager does not perform as expected.  As of June 30, 2024, LAFPP had invested/committed $1.8 billion of its $31.3 billion portfolio, or about 5.8% of the portfolio, with 71 Emerging Managers.  Additionally, 22 managers who were initially hired as Emerging Managers have successfully graduated from emerging manager status and continue to manage approximately $2.5 billion of total investments/commitments for LAFPP today.  Historical performance of LAFPP’s Emerging Managers is on par with investments managed by larger, more established firms.

With a combined funded ratio of 96.8% (as of June 30, 2023) and a 10-year net-of-fees total portfolio return of 7.84% (as of March 31, 2024), LAFPP remains one of the most well-funded and well-run pension funds in the country.  Our engagement with and investments in Emerging Managers are an important part of our strategy for success.  

Thank you for entrusting us with your retirement security. We are committed to serving you and maintaining a proactive, transparent investment approach that safeguards your future.

For further information about our Emerging Manager outreach initiatives for the current fiscal year, please refer to the 2024-25 Annual Plan adopted by the Board on June 20, 2024, available on our website at lafpp.lacity.gov/about/strategic-and-annual-plans. 

For further information about LAFPP’s Emerging Manager program and policies in general, please refer to Section 6.0 – Emerging Managers Policy of the Board’s Investment Policies, available on our website at lafpp.lacity.gov/board-of-commissioners/policies.

Commissioner Raul Perez Appointed to the Board

Posted on by Oscar Diaz

Effective May 2, 2023, Raul Perez was appointed by Mayor Karen Bass and confirmed by the City Council to serve the remaining term ending June 30, 2023, for the seat vacated by former Commissioner Megan M. Hernandez. This is Commissioner Perez’s second appointment to the Board of Fire and Police Pension Commissioners. Commissioner Perez was first appointed by former Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa and served on the Board between September 2009 and April 2013.

Congratulations, Commissioner Perez!

Commissioner Carlton J. Jenkins Appointed to the Board

Posted on by nashamah.freeman@lafpp.com

Effective April 22, 2025, Carlton J. Jenkins was appointed by Mayor Karen Bass and confirmed by the City Council to serve the remaining term ending June 30, 2025, for the seat vacated by former Commissioner Michael Lawson. Commissioner Jenkins will serve a subsequent five-year term ending June 30, 2030. This is Commissioner Jenkins’ first appointment to the Board of Fire and Police Pension Commissioners. 

Welcome, Commissioner Jenkins!

Election – Police Department – Retired Board Member

Posted on by Stephen Bayutas

An election to select the Police Department Retired Member of the Board of Fire and Police Pension Commissioners (Board) is scheduled on February 23, 2024. The candidate elected will serve the term beginning July 1, 2024 and ending June 30, 2029.

Only retired, sworn Los Angeles Police Department members of the System are eligible to run and vote for this Board seat. Retired, sworn members of the Los Angeles Police Department who become eligible within 30 days prior to the Election and wish to vote in the Election should obtain a Certificate of Eligibility (Certificate) from the Department of Fire and Police Pensions (LAFPP).  LAFPP is located at 701 E. Third Street, Suite 200, Los Angeles, CA 90013. Beginning at 8:00 a.m. (PT) on February 13, 2024, after securing a Certificate, the newly eligible voter may present themselves in person at the Office of the City Clerk – Election Division and receive a ballot.

All completed ballots must be received by the Office of the City Clerk Election Division by 5:00 p.m. (PT) on February 23, 2024 to be counted. Inquiries regarding the election process may be directed to the Office of the City Clerk – Election Division at (213) 978-0444 or by email at Clerk.ElectionAdmin@lacity.org. Inquiries may also be directed to the Administrative Services Section of the Department of Fire and Police Pensions at (213) 279-3080. The Election Calendar will be available at the end of November.