Fund board trustee Crisostomo quits

Another member of the NMI Retirement Fund board of trustees, first vice chair Jerry Crisostomo, has stepped down due to an undisclosed medical reason, according to Fund chair Sixto Igisomar on Friday.

He disclosed that Crisostomo quit during the last board meeting.

Crisostomo’s resignation brings to five the number of board members following the departure of Frank Rosario, who resigned in September, also for the same reason.

When asked if the two vacancies would affect the board’s decision-making process, Igisomar told Saipan Tribune that they will have to make do with what they have. The five remaining trustees include Igisomar, second vice chair Adelina Roberto, Bernadita Palacios, Marian Tudela, and Nacrina Barcinas.

As of Oct. 25, the Fund’s investment portfolio was valued at $264,497.211, according to Fund administrator Richard Villagomez in his report to the board.

He also said that Richmond Capital, one the Fund’s money manager that has terminated its services, is expected to complete liquidating its portfolio soon. The liquidated amount was at $46.5 million as of Oct. 25. He said this is expected to change after the completion of the liquidation process.

PIMCO, which handles the Fund’s bond portfolio, has $82 million in total return as of Oct. 25. Villagomez said that the amount was previously reported as close to $100 million but a portion of that was used in transitioning to the Glidepath 2013 allocation model.

The board had approved the liquidations in order to shift the Fund’s assets to the Glidepath 2013 strategy, a conservative transitional approach that will be in place until the Fund is able to secure the CDARS service providers or until it gets a new investment consultant.

Villagomez also reported that the Fund has $1.6 million in assets left with JP Morgan and the amount is now being liquidated.

Total cash, he said, is now at $134.2 million and that it is the intention of the Fund to move to the CDARS program as quickly as possible.

During Friday’s meeting, Commonwealth Retirees Association chair Larry Cabrera shared with the board the good news that the stock market jumped 340 points on Friday.

Fund board chair Igisomar reminded the public, however, that the Fund has been forced to convert its funds into cash and would not be realizing any interest as a result of the stock market going up.

He said that if the Beneficiary Derivative Lawsuit Act of 2011 had not been enacted, the Fund would still have its money managers and investment consultant and the Fund would still have funds invested in the market and could have earned some interest as a result of the market jump.