Four firms pitch pension investment services to Springettsbury Township Police Pension Board

SPRINGETTSBURY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Four firms presented competing proposals on Oct. 30 to the Springettsbury Township Police Pension Board as part of a request-for-proposal process to provide advisory and management services for the township's police pension plan, which trustees and presenters described as about $28 million in assets.

Incumbent FMB Wealth Management, represented by Mark Ranzini, opened the session and highlighted the firm's multi-year relationship with the plan, recent work to update the investment policy and the plan's recent performance. "So far this year we have a return of over 10% total return," Ranzini said, adding one-year returns "over 11" and three-year returns "over 12." He also noted operational capacity, saying FMB processes more than $1,000,000 in benefit payments annually for the plan.

Challenger CBIZ (presenting as the successor to INR Advisors) emphasized a low-cost indexed exchange-traded fund (ETF) approach that it calls "actively passive." Vice President Rich Ritzer said CBIZ would hold custodial assets at Charles Schwab and quoted an advisory fee of 0.20% (20 basis points), with average underlying fund costs around 0.05%, producing an all-in cost CBIZ described as roughly 0.25%. Ritzer said a 60/40 mix under CBIZ's capital-market assumptions would be expected to return about 6.65% over the long run and outlined operational steps they use to manage transitions and benefits processing.

PNC Institutional Asset Management framed its offering around institutional resources, an asset-liability study capability, and on-demand reporting through its iHub portal. Mark Yacenchuk and Michael Ball said PNC would charge 25 basis points for advisory services, with underlying manager expense illustrated in their materials at about 14 basis points. PNC described quarterly A/L-informed reporting and a dedicated transition team to help prevent missed pension payments during any change of manager.

Haverford Trust pitched a custom, quality-focused strategy that mixes individual securities and other vehicles and stressed its service model. Presenters David Wittlichbach and Keith Alleardi said Haverford's fee appears in the proposal appendix at 30 basis points and described client-service work including rapid response for benefit-payment issues.

Board members pressed all firms on how their approaches fit the township's investment policy statement, especially the policy language concerning individual-security limits. Several trustees asked whether an indexing approach would require explicit policy changes; CBIZ and PNC said they had reviewed the township's IPS and would work with the board on benchmark and policy adjustments if selected. Trustees also asked for backtested or audited performance data; CBIZ pointed to GIPS-vetted performance materials in its RFP packet, and PNC and Haverford referenced sample reports and peer benchmarking included in their materials.

No formal motion or vote took place. Staff (Jamie and Mark) ran the RFP process and said they had narrowed 11 responses to four finalists after interviews. There were no public comments during the meeting; staff noted one online attendee but no raised hands when invited to speak. The board adjourned at the conclusion of presentations and questions.

Next steps: trustees will review materials and references, then schedule deliberations and any decision in a future meeting; no selection was announced Oct. 30.