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Edgewater pension board votes to retain Wolf Popper for securities-monitoring
Summary
The Edgewater General Employees Pension Board voted to retain Wolf Popper LLP to provide 100% no-out-of-pocket securities-litigation portfolio monitoring and litigation advisory. Trustees heard details on how monitoring works, fee structures, and next steps for retainer paperwork.
The Edgewater General Employees Pension Board voted to retain Wolf Popper LLP to provide securities-litigation portfolio monitoring and litigation advisory services.
Doug Bortz, director of client service and marketing for Wolf Popper LLP, told trustees the firm offers "100% in perpetuity, no out of pocket cost" monitoring that flags exposure to class actions, insider trading and corporate misconduct and provides monthly reports on active exposures and recent settlements. He said the firm coordinates with the board's counsel and custodian to pursue recoveries when warranted.
Bonnie, the board attorney, confirmed the arrangement is commonly structured so monitoring itself has no direct cost to the fund while any litigation representation would be handled on contingency and, if successful, attorney fees are approved and paid through the settlement process. "The fees themselves are controlled by the courts and paid out by the courts," Bortz said, noting courts review proposed fee structures and the legal maximum is 33 percent.
Trustees asked whether the fund's relatively small size posed a problem; a trustee described the fund as "a little bitty $12,000,000 fund," and Bortz replied that monitoring and contingency representation are widely used by funds of many sizes and recommended retaining multiple monitoring firms for redundancy. He said a typical program size is three firms and that two to three could suffice for smaller plans.
After questions about firm selection and co-counsel options, a committee member moved to retain Wolf Popper for "securities portfolio monitoring and other search services," another committee member seconded, and the board voted in favor with no opposition. Staff said standard retainer documents would be prepared and returned to the board before the end of the week.
The board's action authorizes staff, working with Bonnie and counsel, to finalize paperwork to begin the monitoring engagement; trustees asked staff to bring information on two additional candidate firms at the next meeting so the board can consider expanding its monitoring roster.
