New consultant selected for Macon fire and police pension fund

The Macon Fire and Police Employees Retirement Pension Board selected a new investment consultant Wednesday to manage its $220 million portfolio.

The board voted 3-1 to hire Orlando, Florida-based Bogdahn Group, a company that manages $63 billion in assets for pension funds with public institutions. The vote followed hourlong interviews with the two finalist companies -- Bogdahn and Raymond James.

Bogdahn will have a manager handle the transition from current consultant Independent Portfolio Consultants, also known as IPC.

The transition manager will play a vital role since the portfolio lost money when it switched consultants last year, said pension board Chairman Danny Angelo.

“Last time we had a transition we lost $4 (million) to $5 million,” he said. “They couldn’t tell us where we lost the money at.”

There are about 500 people under Macon’s fire and police pension plan.

Voting in favor of the new consultant were Angelo and Macon-Bibb County Commissioners Gary Bechtel and Larry Schlesinger. Board member Mark Stevens voted against the move.

“My vote is to stay with IPC until I hear a very good compelling reason to change, other than price,” Stevens said.

Schlesinger said he’s pleased with the vote.

“This is going to cost the plan less money, plus I feel a lot more comfortable with the knowledge and expertise of the Bogdahn people,” Schlesinger said after the meeting. “I think the fire and police pension will be very happy with the change that we made.”

Prior to the vote, Angelo said he preferred waiting to make the change when the market isn’t as volatile.

Schlesinger said an unpredictable market shouldn’t factor into the decision.

“I don’t think we should base it on the health of the market, as much as we need to change and move on with a new consultant,” he said.

Board members said they’ll consult with Bogdahn to determine how long IPC remains the consultant before the takeover. Bechtel said there may be a smoother transition this time since IPC is also the consultant for the Macon-Bibb active pension plan and the former Bibb County plan.

IPC drew some concerns in April from Bechtel and Schlesinger, who said they were unaware of a former professional relationship between an IPC senior consultant and County Manager Dale Walker.

Mayor Robert Reichert vetoed an attempt to rebid the proposals for an investment consultant with the Macon-Bibb pension plan.

To contact writer Stanley Dunlap, call 744-4623 or find him on Twitter

This story was originally published September 2, 2015 at 6:09 PM with the headline "New consultant selected for Macon fire and police pension fund ."