Firefighters' pension trustees hear upbeat reports from three managers, discuss allocations

The Sarasota Firefighters' Pension Plan Board of Trustees on April 22 heard performance reviews from three investment managers and discussed portfolio positioning ahead of several upcoming decisions.

Renaissance Investments partner and international portfolio manager Mike Streitmarter told trustees the international equity sleeve produced very strong returns over the past year, reporting the portfolio was "up about 30% on an absolute basis," and outperformed the ACWI ex‑U.S. benchmark by roughly 3 percentage points. Streitmarter said the strategy is a GARP (growth at a reasonable price) approach and cited industrials and power‑consumption names — including Prismian and Fuji Electric — as recent contributors. He also noted the 10‑year relative performance still lags because of the 2017–2020 period but defended the team’s long‑term process and positioning.

Richmond Capital representatives described the core fixed‑income portfolio as highly diversified and quality‑oriented. David (Richmond Capital) said the portfolio holds 73 individual credits across 131 positions with a duration roughly in line with the benchmark and an intentional overweight to high‑quality RMBS, CMBS and ABS as well as select corporates. The firm explained that tactical shifts since 2022 increased corporate allocation when spreads widened and later reduced mortgage exposure as the mortgage basis tightened, characterizing the current posture as conservatively positioned with capacity to add risk if markets sell off.

Sawgrass Asset Management's Margie LaPrey introduced Anthony Brooks as the lead on the large‑cap account and said she will be stepping back as part of a planned retirement. Brooks, who has been working with the account, said the team’s conservative growth posture — and being underweight software/AI‑concentrated names — helped relative performance during recent periods of market skepticism about AI. He highlighted contributions from non‑AI sectors such as medical and industrials and emphasized discipline and earnings quality as the portfolio drivers.

Board members asked questions about sector weightings, regional exposure (Streitmater noted an overweight to Western Europe and Japan), and whether recent geopolitical volatility might affect the managers’ outlooks. There were no formal changes to allocations at the meeting; staff indicated an asset‑allocation update was provided for information and the board will consider any rebalancing separately.

Trustees thanked the managers for the reviews and for traveling to the meeting.