USVI Public Records

Document text

VI UPDATE U.S. Virgin Islands Public Records TRANSCRIPT OF PUBLIC PROCEEDINGS GERS BOT's Monthly Meeting 2/26 GERS Retirement System (Board of Trustees) January 22, 2026 · 0.5 hours · gov Source recording https://youtu.be/rQut_HBuXVs Status This is NOT the official transcript. 3 V.I.C. § 884 requires the agency itself to make a verbatim record of its proceedings and reduce it to a transcript within sixty days. This is a working transcript produced by machine from a recording of the proceeding, offered as a finding aid. Transcribed by VI Update, using OpenAI Whisper large-v3-turbo, run locally. Not reviewed by a person. Reliability Automatic transcription, UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording before relying on it. Speech recognition splits spoken digits and wraps figures mid-number, so a dollar amount, a vote count or a bill number can be wrong in a way that reads as correct. Speakers are not identified: automatic speaker labelling was measured unusable and removed. Public record The underlying proceeding is a public record, and this body is NAMED as a governmental agency in 1 V.I.C. § 253(b), so its meetings are open to the public under § 254. 3 V.I.C. § 884 requires it to make a verbatim record of each proceeding and reduce it to a transcript within sixty days, and § 884(b) makes that transcript open to examination under § 881, which also gives every citizen the right to copy it and the news media the right to publish it. The source recording is not ours, is not hosted here, and remains with its publisher at the link above. Rights To what we added · the transcription, its arrangement and its description · we assert nothing. A verbatim transcript is mechanical rather than authored, so there is likely nothing in it to own; to the extent any copyright is nonetheless found to subsist, it is dedicated to the public domain under CC0 1.0. Please copy it, quote it, index it, train on it, republish it, mirror it, sell it. Redistribution is the point: a public record with one copy is one fire from gone. No permission is needed, and none is ours to grant or withhold. three four trustee like a good morning you there i'm here all right good morning okay we have a morning we have a quorum so i'm ready to begin a government employees retirement system of the virgin islands regular meeting of the board of trustees for thursday february 26 2026 is Is everybody called to order? Can I roll a call, please? Yes, good morning. 0:00:00 Taman Clark? Present. Rusty Clark, present. Andrea Dorsey? Present. Rusty Dorsey, present. Vincent Liger? Present. Rusty Liger, present. Ex Officio Member Richardson? Present. member Richardson present Ronald E Russell trustee Russell absent Leona E Smith excuse trustee Smith excused Dwayne Colwood present trustee Colwood presence Mr. Chairman you have four presents one absent one excused Thank you, Mr. Darston. Are there any comments and suggestions from retirees? 0:00:29 Hearing none, are there any comments and suggestions from active members? Hearing none, let's move on to the next item, the Secretary's minutes from the regular meeting of January 22nd, 2026. Are there any edits or corrections to be made to those minutes? yes uh chair i have a comment um let me ask you how how do we record our absence from the meeting and excuse from the meeting how does that work in the language because when i was out the last time of the meeting i asked to be excused and i know i'm not there so i'm also absent but how is it recorded because i didn't see it in the written document of the individuals i contacted making that request uh mr chairman if i may yes uh so um as with the roll call that i just took on behalf of the board uh the roll call sheet will indicate whether a member is marked absent present or excused at roll call okay and during the last roll call uh ceo how was i marked unfortunately i don't have that last um package with me but i can check that Okay. So I would like the record to reflect that I asked to be absent during the last meeting, and it should have been reflected in your roll call. We will review the record. We could also review the transcripts because we do have a verbatim 0:01:26 transcript. Of course, I can only go based upon the information that I have at roll call. okay well i called i called um i left a message for the chair so i spoke to you yeah if if yeah i do recall you were you was um you should have been marked excuse um as that doesn't indicate we check the record but you did you should have been marked excuse okay we'll move 0:03:19 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 1 of 5 GERS Retirement System (Board of Trustees) · GERS BOT's Monthly Meeting 2/26 on thank you okay so let's so that's the one correction that we make to the to the minutes to indicate that um trustee does it was excused are there any other corrections or edits to be made to the minutes hearing none can have a motion to accept the minutes as amended So moved. Second. So moved by Trustee Clark, seconded by Trustee Dorsey. Can I have a roll call, please? Yes, Trustee Clark. Yes. Trustee Clark, yes. Trustee Dorsey. Yes. Trustee Dorsey, yes. Trustee Liger. Yes. Trustee Liger, yes. Trustee Russell. Absence. Trustee Smith. Absent. Trustee Caldwell? 0:04:20 Yes. Trustee Caldwell, yes. Mr. Chairman, four yes, two absent. All right, thank you. Excuse me, I kind of had to chuckle. I just noticed what Trustee Clark has with respect to his name. Anyway. Did we miss something? Yes, he has his name and then he has a pronouns, he and him. announce he and him so yeah that's what we come to be politically correct yes all right um are there any communications and correspondences to be read into the record uh mr chairman i have no all right chairman's report i have none so we can move to the administrator's report certainly uh administrators reports as of february 20 february 20th 2026 uh meetings presentations and appearances january 20th uh they attended a development committee meeting uh january 20th through the 22nd attended various velocity migration meetings january 26 board of trustees meeting january 26 attended the governor's state of the territory address january 27th through 30th various velocity migration meetings february 3rd conducted a meeting to discuss cyber security policies february 3rd attended the investment meeting meeting february 4 through 6 various velocity migration meetings february 17th received an organizational change management presentation february 17th through the 20th various velocity migration meetings february 18th policy committee meeting february 20th conducted the haven site green space construction project kickoff meeting under the member services caption we have 158 pending retirement applications 0:04:51 117 of those are recent vintage of the um well actually 141 of them are recent vintage for foy 25 and 26. uh we have processed 36 refunds of contributions totaling 459 thousand two hundred twelve dollars and thirty four cents we've completed six death benefit cases totaling two hundred and one thousand six hundred eighteen dollars and five cents uh as far as annuity payments um cumulative dollars paid out from october 1st 2025 through february 13 2026 total 102 million 673 961.46 we have a payroll a retiree payroll of 8 763 individuals as of february 13th since that date an additional eight persons have been added uh to the uh payroll uh thus far for the fiscal year we've had 105 individuals added to the retiree payroll and almost one for one we've had 106 deleted from the payroll and we expect another 15 to be placed on the payroll uh for the february 27 2026 pay date uh our disbursements by location we have 9 963 disbursements of which 7 939 are within the virgin islands and 1 754 are considered to be international or outside of the burden on these our own portfolio at present amounts to 18 million 226 544 dollars and 64 cents uh about half of that uh is in the st thomas and john district nine million fifty nine thousand 316.99 and 9 million 167 227.65 in this inquiry district regarding operations we have various uh routine building issues i don't know that i'll necessarily go through 0:07:14 in any detail unless there's a question uh but we have work uh um pending or ongoing at the pleasant ophthalmology building on st croix and we also have some issues with the with the building here in st thomas we have a ceiling repair on that is pending um on on St. Thomas we have routine maintenance issues and a couple of minor projects we're always testing the air quality of the buildings so the buildings so that is ongoing uh Haven site mall the welcome center is essentially complete is at 99 completion and as indicated we have kicked off the uh project for the green space surrounding the welcome center uh there are a couple of questions from czm minor questions regarding the security building project that is pending um commencement uh rental collections uh for january 2026 we've collected 180 829 dollars and six cents in in rental payments and the utilities year to date we've collected 429 901 dollars three cents for uh rental uh income and two hundred thirty five thousand seven hundred seven hundred dollars seventeen sums uh for utilities uh we do have some uh rental and electrical marriages totaling eighty two thousand two hundred nineteen dollars and ninety seven 0:09:45 cents and they are the usual um uh offenders uh the department of justice i don't know if we have an update from the division of personnel uh we do have ex-officio member uh richardson on online on the meeting not to place her on the spot but if there's any updates uh she might feel free to provide it at this time but we are pending some uh utility uh payments from uh first they have already been processed here internally and they're currently at uh department of finance for for further processing thank you remember richardson the others are very diminimous not even worth mentioning at this meeting that concludes the administrator's report thank you any questions for the administrator regarding the administrator's report uh administrator this is trustee dorsey i'd just like to say um i was recently by the dock uh using the restroom there by tapping still and the person you had assigned the young lady she was basically maintaining that location it was full of tours i had to use the restroom myself and um it was very very clean and i really commended her uh on that so i just let you know person's doing an excellent excellent job and i also like the fact that the crews were um doing the restriping especially the yellow restriping and the white restriping on the dock as well so it's very impressive 0:11:37 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 2 of 5 GERS Retirement System (Board of Trustees) · GERS BOT's Monthly Meeting 2/26 thank you thank you trustee dorsey i appreciate that and we do have the uh manager of have insight uh online with us mr mills i uh my policy is that i will take the blame and i will assign the credits so uh mr mills kudos to you and your team uh we have received numerous compliments on uh that lady in particular that maintains the restrooms uh by tap and still uh one of the toughest audiences i know is my wife and she has used it and told me how well it's maintained so uh kudos to you and your team and please feel free to comment if you would like thank you thank you administrator dawson and trusty dawsi thank you very much for your um your feedback we continue to do our best and um that's all we can um we can do at this time uh mr mills i am so sorry for the oversight but yeah your team is really really doing well up there so you get that credit as the ceo has said thank you i'll take it thank you trustee dorsey thank you mr mills all right any other questions uh regarding the administrator's report all right hearing none let's move on to the committee reports the investment committee met on february 3rd um for a quarterly update we met with our investment managers um to get some feedback as to how with respect to the portfolios port performance performance over the last quarter as well as a kind of general outlook for um looking forward so we'll hear a little more about that when the investment officer gives his um monthly update any questions regarding the investment committee i believe the policy committee also had a meeting chelsea clark yes we had a meeting on february 18th to try to codify a solution to address a problem that's occurring with certain retirees basically if they were unable to make all the required contributions uh over their their lifetime they would not have access to benefits and so uh Excuse me, I'm sorry to interrupt Trustee Clark, but through the share, I think that 0:13:51 we, at this point, would probably want to be circumspect with regards to the solution that is being considered. Yeah, I was just about to intervene as well. uh yeah let's just we don't have to get into the specifics um the matter was discussed at my understanding is it didn't make it um out of the out of that committee uh to the board with a favorable recommendation so we'll just leave it there okay and that's with all due respect to trustee block i do apologize no understood i believe that's it for the committee reports um next up we have the treasurer's report morning chair and other trustees this is the government employees retirement system schedule of receipts and disbursement for the month of january since from this person we go to repayment for the month of january we have five hundred and 159,982 year to date 2,462,155 you have rent contents 228,471 year to date 486,000 We have employer retirement contribution of $8,362,967, year-to-date $28,716,576, employee Retired contribution 4,489,966, year to date 15,469,641, and total collection for the month of January we have 14,061,953, year to date 108,670,770 dollars. 0:15:54 Disbursements, we have annual payments of $23 million, year-to-date $94 million, $94.6 million. Administrative expenses, $1,419,167. Year-to-date, $7,709,463. We have refund-off contributions, $386,167. for the month of January of $24,890,104, year-to-date of $106,254,631 for a net deficit in the month of December of $10,828,151. Year-to-date, a net surplus of $2,416,000. For the Haven site model, in the month of January, we collected $786,050. Year-to-date, $2,524,544. 0:18:22 We expanded a total of 352,507 year-to-date, 1,871,191 so we have a total net surplus of 423 1542 and years of 653 1332 mr mills you're making some serious money thank you the reading of the schedule of this person is the true okay my internet okay um any questions for the treasurer treasurer yeah i would just say uh mr jeremiah i'm just happy to hear your voice it's a feeling of being home when i hear your voice through this system so i appreciate that i wasn't here the last meeting thank you all right hearing no questions can i have a motion to accept the treasurer's report so move second moved by trustee dorsey seconded by trustee clark can i have a roll call please yes mr chairman uh trustee clark yes trustee clark yes trustee dorsey 0:19:46 Yes. Trustee Dorsey, yes. Trustee Liger? Yes. Trustee Liger, yes. Trustee Russell? Trustee Russell absent. Trustee Smith? Trustee Smith absent. Trustee Colwood? Yes. Trustee Colwood, yes. Mr. Chairman, four yes, two absent. Thank you very much. Next up, we have the investment officer's report. Good morning, Mr. Chair and the trustees. This is an update of the investment portfolio as of the month ending January 31st, 2025. Our total plan was up 2.2% for the month. As we saw calendar year 2006 begin on a positive note. Our global shares advancing in January despite heightened geopolitical risk that included renewed tariff threats and continued U.S. Greenland tensions, just to name a few. Our total domestic equities was up 1.9% for the month as the Russell 1000 Index, which is made up of larger companies, finished up about 1.4% after a strong market rally late in the month. Performance was primarily driven by enthusiasm surrounded around artificial intelligence, a decent earning report from major tech companies such as Microsoft, Meta Platforms and Apple, and expectations for easing monetary policy as markets continue to price in expectations of cuts later in the year, even after the Fed decided to leave its benchmark rate unchanged at its January meeting. The Russell 2000 index, which is made up of a basket of smaller companies, performed well as well, finished up 5.4% as investors in response to 0:21:38 in response to expectations of lower rates shifted towards higher yielding or growth-sensitive sectors. Total international equity returned 6.2% for the month as international markets continued to outperform its U.S. counterpart. Developed 0:23:29 Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 3 of 5 GERS Retirement System (Board of Trustees) · GERS BOT's Monthly Meeting 2/26 market equity as represented by the MSCI IFE index was up 5.2% and MICI emerging markets was up 9% respectively, continuing to be supported also by optimism over generative AI demands, which boosted returns in the information technology sector, particularly in semiconductor equipment and optical component and fiber companies. Our gains were also attributed to increased investor risk appetite and a continued rotation away from the concentrated U.S. market. As it pertains to our total fixed income returned 0.4% as we did see bond markets remain relatively calm despite the rise of geopolitical easiness which included the U.S. removal of Venezuela's leader and the threat of military intervention in Iran and Greenland. Investment-grade bonds returned 0.2% and U.S. tips returned 0.5% respectively. Reviews ended a month higher, concentrated more in shorter maturities. U.S. agency mortgage-backed securities performed well after proposals for Fannie Mae and Freddie map to use up to 200 billion to buy mortgage-backed securities aiming to improve housing affordability was proposed. As it pertains to credit, high yield bonds portfolio was up 0.5% which performed well as economic data remained relatively upbeat for the month. As it pertains to cash flow and the record of asset growth for the month, we ended the month at approximately $514.6 million in market value. We began with a market value of about $504.9 million. We had income of about $109,000. We had an unrealized appreciation in the portfolio of about $9.6 million that brought us to the ending market value of $514.6 million. As a particular fiscal year to date, we began with a market value of about $495.2 million. Net cash flow-wise, negative $400,000, income of about $334,000. We've had an unrealized net appreciation in the portfolio of about $19.5 million. that brings us back to that market value of $514.6 million as of January 31st. As it pertains to investment management and consultant fees, we paid about $63,000 calendar month to date. That was primarily consultant fees. Year-to-date since January we also began calendar date. 0:26:07 um since um correct that we are also expending 63 000 and fiscal year to date we spend about 170 000 so far in our fees uh investment management fees 28 000 consultant fees about 126 000 and custodian bank fees about 16 000 um as pertain to expenses we continue to pay a low a low A low amount being that we are primarily an index fund, the estimated total fee value of about 119,000, which is about 0.03% of our total assets. As it pertains to the overall allocation, at the end of January 34th, we had about 165 million in domestic equity, about 75 million in developed market equity, about 26.4 million in emerging market equity, 94 million in investment grade bonds, about 47 million allocated to U.S. 0:26:54 TIPS, about 47 million allocated to high yield bonds, real estate, and this does not include our office complexes about 50 55 million private equity and this includes our legacy private equity funds that are rolling off the books primarily about 5 million and about um 500 000 in cash mr chairman trustee that concludes my presentation thank you mr henderson are there any questions for the investment officer hearing on kind of a motion to accept the investment officers report so moved second moved by trustee dorsey seconded by trustee clark our roll call please uh yes trustee clark yes let's see clark yes trustee dorsey yes let's see dorsey yes trustee liger let's see liger yes let's see liger yes trustee russell absent trustee smith absent trustee colwood yes let's see how would yes mr chairman four year one pet two absent thank you are there any privileges of the floor mr chairman a quick question yes sir how about trustee russell have you been hearing from him no sir so what would be the next step a trustee could could move to have the board I would consider enforcing our policy, our attendance policy. Are you planning to make contact with him and find out why he's not attending the meeting and why you're not hearing from him? Honestly, no. I did that in the past. 0:28:06 you know, when I tried to take action, the effort at a time didn't receive adequate support. To be totally honest and transparent, another trustee indicated that they wanted to have the matter placed on the agenda for next month's meeting. So that's where we're at with that. Okay, all right. All right, camera motion to adjourn. so moved second moved by trustee clark secondly by trustee dorsey cover was up uh yes mr chairman uh trustee clark yes let's see clark yes trustee dorsey yes let's see dorsey yes trustee liger trustee leigert yes trustee leigert yes trustee russell absent trustee smith absence trustee callwood yes let's see call what yes mr chairman or yay it too absent thank you um thank you ladies and gentlemen for your time see you guys next month Thank you. Good day. 0:30:22 People named in this transcript SUSPECTED, and a finding aid only. Names were matched by machine against the spellings used across all 426 of our transcripts, and the title is the one used in the room. Being named here is NOT evidence that a person attended or spoke · only that the name was said. Speech recognition mishears names, so a spelling may be wrong even where no alternative is offered. 5x Trustee Andre Dorsey heard in this transcript as: Dorsey Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 4 of 5 GERS Retirement System (Board of Trustees) · GERS BOT's Monthly Meeting 2/26 5x Trustee Vincent Liger heard in this transcript as: Liger 4x Trustee Leona E. Smith heard in this transcript as: Smith 4x Trustee Ronald Russell heard in this transcript as: Russell Machine transcript · UNVERIFIED. Verify every quotation against the recording. Speakers are not identified. VI Update · usvipublicrecords.com · public record, no rights asserted (CC0 1.0) 5 of 5