leave before two years? >> the same in the case where any other teacher leaves. i mean, we have had to have conversations about the role of hr. >> bad karma? >> bad karma. folks leave, but it's some combination of having made a commitment to a district that's also giving you a high level of support seems to be working in some context, and so we've taken that idea and applied it to the other program. >> okay. thanks. >> great. so i just have a few comments. so i'm really excited about everything that you guys have just shared with us because it's all -- the whole grow your own concept of -- is a beautiful thing, and i'm really glad that we're taking care of our parents in particular. they seem to have been an untapped resource for us in a long time.

these are folks that have been in our schools and know our kids and are beloved, and i'm excited to help support them through the program. i'm also excited about the cohortive teachers of color. i had the opportunity -- were you with me on that, mark? we went to the reception for the teachers of color, and it was just really great to -- that we have a targeted team that really seeks out our teachers of color. i'm curious about san francisco state. in the past, they've been kind of our largest resource for recruitment and just wondering how if we still have a strong relationship with them. i'm seeing that we're working with other universities, and just wanted to check in with them -- i mean, with you on them. >> yeah.

great. san francisco state is the largest partner in our ihe, our network, and we do make a point of meeting with them separately, as well, because they are a critical partner in filling a lot of our positions. so one of our initiatives that we're working on now is being more strategic in how we place interns and student teachers from san francisco state so that it's more strategic and more focused towards our pipeline needs. so similarly what we're doing with our other pipeline, we're targeting t working with the folks at hr. a lot of this happens by relationships, that folks at sfsd has with a lot of principals and teachers, so we're broadening that. >> i think we're doing this with a lot of new programs, but

also with state. i also want to make sure we provide the appropriate supports and on boarding for those teachers as well, because that seemed to be a little bit of a deficit in the past and something that we've heard from teachers in the past, like, you know that wasn't happening at readily. and i'm really glad that we're doing a lot more focus on a lot more robust onboarding, because i think that makes a huge difference between our district and another district. if a teacher makes a decision to go to a district down the road than ours because we're going to provide the type of support services that they need to feel welcome and to feel like they're being honored and appreciated. so -- and i know several years ago, we did a whole onboarding for teachers through the ilab. did any of that stuff stick? are we using any of those new onboarding pieces that came

from the ilab? >> yeah. confer he continuing -- we're continuing to integrate people with ideas coming from the ilab, and we're doing what are people doing from the time that they are hired until they're hired by the schools. i think that we've identified through the survey data that that's been a weak spot, and so we've implemented some of those new initiatives last year, and we aim to implement some new ones for the coming year to better support folks that are coming both from san francisco state and across all of the different areas where we hire, both with a two-day -- two full days of orientation that is both technical and also specifically focused on curriculum. as well, we've just launched an on-line professional development catalog where folks can begin taking courses around our core curriculum once

they're onboarded with the systems. we have worked really diligently with the department of technology and human resources to make sure that the office of professional learning and leadership knows exactly who all the new teachers are, which one of those teachers are emergency teachers or interns or earning their preliminary versus teachers on clears, so we can make coaches we have for the first couple of weeks of school versus assigning them at the end of october, and we think that'll help at well. >> and leslie, one of the things that i'm working on is some kind of a teacher incentive or payment program, you know, looking to find some funds that we can use to support teachers in some way. are any of the programs that we have here -- do any of the teachers incur their own loan or fee or tuition that has become burdensome or if -- and

within any one of these programs if there was a way to support these funds or -- in some capacity as an incentive. is that useful to you? >> well, the right answer is yes. we -- we would love to talk. if you're identifying sources of funding that can support any of these programs, we'd love to talk. >> okay. let's do that at some point because we've kind of conjured up some ideas, but i think if we can make them a lot more concrete and attach them to programs within that speak specifically to teacher recruitment, there could be some really great alignment that could come out of that, so we'll find some time to do that. >> great. any other questions or comments from my colleagues? all right. seeing none, thank you all so much. this is great and exciting. we look forward to having zero

vacancies in the fall. yeah. [ applause ] >> all right. section i is the consent calendar, items removed at previous meeting. there are none tonight. section j is the assignment of proposals to committee. there is one item, board item 13390, and unless i hear different from legal, this policy is referred to buildings and legal, grounds, and legislation committee, so can i hear a motiand second for firs reading of this board policy? >> second. >> so moved. >> section l is board members reports. standing committees. we have no committee meetings that have taken place since our last board meeting -- oh, last

night. you already reported on that. >> i have a little more. >> okay. >> board policies and community meeting met last night. some good news, there's a basic prediction with the governor's 2018-19 state budget preliminary proposal, which will be released tomorrow. we're hoping that school spending authority could rise by $5.3 billion, including prop 98 going up about $650 million, base funding up $2.6 billion, and $1.1 billion in full funding from the current year. we could reach full lcf funding in 2018-19, and still ranked 46th in the nation even with that funding in education funding among states. so the good news is we'll get all of our money, probably. the bad news is we're nowhere

near even the state median. so we talked a little bit about what we as a state could be doing, and obviously, prop 13 has been at the forefront of everybody's mines over the years, to split that so that corporate or agro businesses were taxed differently and part of that money would make it to education funding. we locally are looking at a ballot initiative, living wages for educators in 2018. there's another pushing the envelope on funding, not just adequacy. and then, focusing on increasing the lcff base. and a lot folks now that la unified as a board resolution that's promoting $20,000 perkid by 2020, and there's a get to the real 2007-08 level and add

to that. really, in my mind, though, prop 13 reform is the real way to get to adequate funding overall for californians. there's a number of state legislative priorities that we would like to see shored up. funding for cte, special ed, focus on funding and distribution. child care focus on availability of slots and reimbursement rates, foster youth and children with incarcerated parents funding, filling the teacher pipeline and charter school reform. and then, there's been talk and it's been ongoing. we've talked about it, about having a 51% parcel tax threshold. that's it. i want to thank counsel very much for helping us through the discussion, and council member

cascio. >> any other standing committees? >> i just want to announce that the curriculum committee will meet on wednesday, the 17th, at 6:00 p.m. >> any others budget -- commissioner wong. >> we will have a budget and finance committee meeting on that day at 9:00 p.m. >> the personal labor and affordablity committee meeting will be meeting on thursday, january 25th, at 5:00 p.m. >> great. thank you. and then, the links and grounds will be meeting on the 22nd, and i am going to check to see if we can move the time on that, as well, to move it to 5:00 instead of 6:00, but i'll

check with my committee members. okay. so any other -- board members to delegate commissions? seeing none, calendar meetings, we just went to. section m, we don't have one. section n, we don't have any memorials. the next is

>> okay. we'd like -- item -- section p, we'd like to resume the regular board meeting and report of closed section items -- i move to approve the employment contract between the district

and the chief of human resources grade m-23 step 6. could i get a second, and then, roll call, please. >> second. >> thank you. >> okay. roll call. [ roll call. ] >> that's seven ayes. >> great. thanks. and then, i will read the actions from tonight's closed session. in the matter of one case of anticipated litigation, the board voted by a vote of 6-5, the board by a vote of six ayes and one absent, haney, approved the statement of charges and resolution to dismiss one teacher. the board by a vote of six ayes, and one absent, approved a resolution to suspend without pay one teacher in the -- in the matter of sfusd versus lm,

case number 2017110545. the board, by a vote of six ayes, one absent, gives the authority of the board -- the district to pay the stipulated amount. section q, this meeting is adjourned.

♪ >> i am so looking forward to the street fair tomorrow. >> it is in the mission, how are we going to get there? we are not driving. >> well what do you suggest? >> there are a lot of great transportation choices in the city and there is one place to find them all, sfnta.com. >> sfmta.com. >> it is the walking parking, and riding muni and it is all here in one place. >> sitting in front of my computer waiting transportation options that is not exactly how i want to spend my saturday night. >> the new sfmta.com is mobile friendly, it works great on a tablet, smart phone or a lap top, it is built to go wherever we go. >> cool. >> but, let's just take the same route tomorrow that we always take, okay? >> it might be much more fun to

ride our bikes. >> i am going to be way too tired to ride all the way home. >> okay, how about this, we can ride our bikes there and then we can take muni home and it even shows us how to take the bikes on the bus, so simple right here on my phone. >> neat. we can finish making travel plans over dinner, now let's go eat. >> how about about that organic vegan gluten free rest rft. >> can't we go to the food truck. >> do you want to walk or take a taxi. >> there is an alert right here telling us there is heavy traffic in soma. >> let's walk there and then take a taxi or muni back. >> that new website gives us a lot of options. >> it sure does and we can use it again next weekend when we go to see the giants. there is a new destination section on the website that shows us how to get to at&t

park. >> there is a section, and account alerts and information on parking and all kinds of stuff, it is so easy to use that even you can use it. >> that is smart. >> are you giving me a compliment. >> i think that i am. >> wow, thanks. >> now you can buy dinner. sfmta.com. access useful information, any

>> everyone please rise. [reciting the pledge of allegiance] >> roll call, please. >> before we go, i guess first item is going into closed session. before we go into closed session, i want to give the public a chance to comment on

going into closed session. are there any members present that would like to address the commission? seeing none, we'll close public are we ready? closed session, is there a motion not to disclose? i will make the motion. is there a second? >> second. >> can we take the item without objection? item passes. mr. secretary, next item. >> general floor comment.

>> before we go general public comment, i want to make a quick announcement. i think there was confusion as to the agenda on today's meeting. there's nothing today on fossil fuel investment. that meeting is on the 24th, as posted on the website. we apologize for any confusion. first, john furland. >> two or three minutes? >> two minutes. >> i wanted to comment on the ci reports. there was a great start in the absolute return section of the report. i'm happy because i've supported that for almost three years now. secondly, there's nothing in the report on -- well, one phrase on risk. and so, we're in the middle of an extremely complacent melt-up phase, which jeremy graham just

wrote about. nobody knows the results. for the february 13th panel on risk mitigation, that you bring in an outside person who has a little bit more -- bring in jeremy grant, if you want. kyle bass is going to speak at the pension bridge conference in april. bring him in or meet with him on the side. bring somebody in like that who's going to give you a little bit of a scare. number two, just repeat. i think the managing director, risk management innovation should be a full-time managing director for a risk officer. she would include a section on the cios report. it needs to be a section ten years in on that cio report. i would say congratulations. you guys are doing extremely well right now, but frankly, monkeys throwing darts at a

board can do well. we're a bull market. okay? what you need to do is focus on risk. i was a tech analyst on wall street. i'm a big fan. before that phase, you have to survive a bear market. and there's far too much complacency. >> thank you, mr. furland. i have a speaker card for david page. >> hello, everyone. nice to see everybody again. i used the time -- i came early for the 2:30 public comment, and i ended up here a little early. so i used the time to go back to my old office, and i met with one of my co-workers who's about to retire. i wanted to report that he's really looking forward to that pension. and at the same time we got news

from santa barbara that they're still pulling bodies out of the mud. so what does one have to do with the other? if you've heard me before, if you've been doing your own research, you know about how to collect the dots between fossil fuel companies, global warming, and the weird weather, but just in case you haven't, i sent you a pdf over the holidays about global warming review. i just want to make sure, did everyone get a chance to look at that? anyone? quick show of hands. commissi commissioner driscoll, i knew i could count on you. just in case you haven't seen it, i figure you're all extremely busy, so i didn't write another long report at this time. i just sent in a bunch of photos for the slide show. there's like 30 pictures, if you want to look. takes maybe three seconds a picture. you get done in a minute and a

half. i will resend it. it's called global warming review, and it's in a pdf. thanks very much. >> up next, i have a speaker card for kai hung (phonetic). i'm sorry. thank you very much. i called it out of order. my mistake. i have another speaker card for general public comment. is there anyone else who would like to address the board under public comment? >> i'm john -- i would like to give you an update from ten years ago. it started on january 5th, 2008. as you know, 2008 was one of the largest down years in stock market history.

the bet ended on the 21st of december, just a few weeks ago. over a ten-year period, the s&p 500 will outperform the vast majority of hedge funds. if you piggybacked with the hedge fund ten years ago, after ten years, you would have a gain of $220 million. if you took one and put $1 billion, you would have gained 710 million. that's nearly three times in a moderate risk investment, taking on an -- investment. i think the fifth of may this year, the stockholders meeting, i would recommend you send mr.

coker to the stockholder meeting because there's going to be a lecture on why nobody should invest; especially pension funds, into hedge funds. >> 30 seconds. >> one last thing. hedge fund managers will always tell you one of the reasons you invest in hedge funds is the best and the brightest. in previous meetings, i've told you that a monkey could outperform most hedge fund managers. you thought i was joking. if any of you want to produce (off mic) i will prove that a monkey can outperform most of the hedge fund managers. if you want to take me up to the challenge, i will prove it to you. >> thank you. [laughter] >> are there any other members of the public that would like to address the commission under general public comment?

seeing none, we'll close general public comment. i think there are two items we're going to continue -- excuse me. just one. we're going to continue item eight. mr. hung, we'll not be calling that item today. mr. secretary, next item. >> item five, an action item, approve december 17th, 2017, retirement board meeting. >> i move adoption of the -- (off mic). >> i will second the item. we need a second, correct? second and a vote? okay. i will second the item. we'll open it up to general public comment? is there anyone who would like to address the committee on this item? can we take this board without objection? okay. passes. >> the consent calendar. >> we have a motion.

we have a second. we'll open it to general public comment. are there any members of the public that would like to address the commission on the calendar? seeing none, we'll close general public comment. any discussion? being none, can we take the item without objection? item passes. >> no. 7, action item. >> this is a recommendation to hire a small cap manager. i would first like to introduce you to our new managing director. he has 20 years plus experience in investment experience. i would like him to introduce himself to the board, and we'll get to the recommendation. >> thank you. pleasure to meet you all. as bill mentioned, i have 27 years of investment management experience. the last 17 of which have been spent in san francisco working for two private asset management

firms. i'm grateful for the opportunity to join such a qualified staff and to work with such an engaged board. i look forward to the opportunity to serve the participants of the retirement services. >> any questions, board? thank you, kirk. hahn is going to introduce us to the strategy, and he has comments. >> thank you, bill. today we're recommending an investment. one of the current underlying management -- merging in this case is defined as total of less than $2 billion at the time of hire.

dba was add and had only 3 billion in assets. today assets are close to 5 billion. it's been recommended that san francisco graduate dba to a direct -- independent due diligence of dba, and we do recommend graduating it and are supportive of vivian's recommendation. they specialize in small cap strategies and focused on companies with high cash flows. the firm is based in montreal, canada. it was founded in 1991. it launched its first strategy in 1992, focused on canadian small cap. they developed a strong track record and gained traction among institutional investors. they have closed the u.s.

strategy since 2017. san francisco is considered an existing investor due to its relationship. it was founded by the ceo today. he has over four decades of experience in the investment industry and developed a reputation in small cap strategies. he joined full time in 2001 and promoted to senior analyst in 2004 and became the senior -- he's developed a great track record for the strategy. he's out performed benchmark by more than -- we also note that

bva return -- we would also note this is a concentrated portfolio that would hold 40 to 50 names. the concentration leads to high tracking error. we expect this portfolio will have periods of performance. we're recommending investment of small cap strategy. it's an student for a lead investment management with a good practice record. they -- their discipline has made them very attractive. >> i want to say we did do due diligence. as she said, they're a closed manager. we didn't have client exposure. we had tim o'connell who you met

conduct -- he did that doing a rigorous performance analysis and attribution. while we did not go on site, we did have all of those resources at our disposala. tim wrote up the document you had with you. our internal conference starts tomorrow in boston. tim is in boston with dan hennessy who helps me cover san francisco. he can answer any questions with regard to analysis. we're quite comfortable for all the reasons hawn indicated. it is an incumbent manager for you. you've seen them perform through thick and then. not only have they done well, but when you look at the numbers, they have a downside protect quality to some of their numbers as well. we're fully supportive of the recommendation. >> board members, questions,

comments? commissioner bridges? >> i guess i'm a little confused, president. so we're continuing item eight, but we're going through with item 7. >> commissioner cohen has requested we continue with number eight. >> item seven, continue on eight, the asset phase because the fund to funds -- >> yeah. we discussed that before hand. you know, we have plenty of funding mechanisms to fund that that you don't have to do the two in tandem together. >> that's what i was worried about. it is part of the fund-to-fund structure. i didn't know what to do. you continue one item and doing the other. >> there's no contingency, and are the's no need for us. it's up to 200 million. and we could actually stave the funding over the next few months.

so we have the capacity to do number seven. >> commissioner driscoll, please. >> the question is is the current money going to be reduced now or not. >> you have the discretion to do that. that's why i'm asking. >> we do have the discretion to do that. the staff does not. we haven't acted on that. yes reduced it earlier. we have not considered reducing it to zero or some further amount without prior first discussing this with the board. >> the bivium recommendation were approved today, we would still have to bring the guidelines back in february, and it would take a few months to finalize the contract. in the meantime, there's another manager focus, which we're not

recommending graduating. it could transfer the assets to a fund one, the underlying fund being bva, and i think it will take a couple of more months. >> do you think they would do that? >> we have talked to bivium. they have suggested adjusting a fund and they would help was the transition. >> this is not the first time we've graduated without terminating the underlying fund of fund-to-fund manager. need to terminate the fund to fund manager in order to get access to something that under a contract, a manager that no longer meets the definition of fund to fund. so they're contractual language in there that basically says we can without bivium -- >> like bledsoe.

>> there's no connection there other than the funding of where the money that is currently with vva with bivium will go. i think we've tried to say that we don't need that money and that there will be, in the next couple of months, guidelines being brought back to you before we would execute. we haven't negotiated the contract yet. there's no linkage and no contingency on needing to take action on number eight before approval of number seven. >> but if i -- fiduciarily, it's important not to get charged by bivium. we should just be doing that with the money, you know. >> eventually we will once we final the contract and if the board approves the vva today. >> i do not know where item eight will go when it comes back on calendar.

my point being, do not pay bivium if we're managing van burkm directly. maybe that was assumed. >> once we finalize the contract and are able to go direct, we'll no longer pay bivium. the max drawdown for van burkm -- can you tell me. maybe i'm looking at the wrong set of numbers. 44.7 doesn't really bother me, but i like to know how you got that number. >> there's a graphical example underneath, the underwater draw down. you can see it happened in the depth of the 2008-2009 recession. the blue line, which didn't far as fall, as the vva strategy,

and this is the russell index, which fell further. >> so it was over a period of time that that drawdown occurred. >> it started to drop until you get back to the recovery. so it's there on that page and numbers above it -- >> performed by almost 10%. >> the question had to do with the performance numbers, the numbers on your page five. your numbers are not that compelling. are there better, more current numbers? >> the december numbers, the fourth quarter quarter of 2017 were strong, so they bounced back. they outperformed the bench mark for the entire year. >> what are your numbers, then? >> yes, for the calendar year 2017, these numbers are as of september 30th, 2017, the ones in the table. >> you have the december 1st

numbers. >> they were up about 16.5%. >> versus? >> versus the benchmark at 15% or so. >> 14.7. >> yes. >> 14.7, correct. >> for concentrated manager one year. okay. good. doesn't change. makes the sharp numbers look even better. okay. i've got your recommendation. thank you. >> questions from the board? is there a motion on the table? the fee arrangement is negotiated that that be reported back to the board. >> i will second. call for public comment. any members of the public that like to address us on item 7,

please come forward. >> i'm kai hung, chief strategist for bivium. because we were brought up, i want to make some clarifications. we've had a long-standing relationship with san francisco. something we valued here. the recommendation with vva hopefully validates the work. with respect to fees and overlaps we're happy to work with the staff and board and the plan in whatever way is equitable. we've had conversations broadly about how to make sure that in this period, as you're moving through the process with vva, that it's absolutely equitable to the board. i just want to put it out there that we're happy to accommodate anything and work with staff because we want to see this a success for the overall program. a manager you funded early on that hopefully can successfully move forward with in the future. >> thank you.

are there any other members of the public that would like to address the commission on this item? i see none. we have a motion and a second. is there any discussion on the item? seeing no discussion, can we take this item without objection? commissioner bridges? >> no. >> none for you. voting against? okay. so we have four in the affirmative, and one against. item passes. next item, please. >> the chief investment officer report. mr. coker. >> a continuance of the good news throughout the years. to begin, we crossed the $24 billion mark for the first time. a very sharp recovery that you will see on the chart later on. regarding the narrative, you will note on page one of the narrative is that we finished every month of the year in positive territory.

so a really terrific year. regarding economic conditions, the economy continues in a really ideal strike zone. in addition, good unemployment, good low unemployment, good job growth. interest rates are still relatively low. inflation is still relatively low. and economic growth around the world is picking up. i did spend some additional time on item number three on the science. i do think we're in a unique period of the human experience, graduating from the industrial age to an experience of science, technology, and innovation. this is really beginning to sweep through the entire human experience. originally the science and tech and innovation impact was primarily on calculations,

communications, convenience, and mobility. in the next 10 to 15, 20 years, it's going to be much, much more impactful. immunogene therapy, we're going to see improvements in human health. ai and deep learning. computers will be able to solve all sorts of array of human problems from human health, energy, transportation, et cetera. auto mated vehicles will be ready for prime time in a couple of years. electric vehicles as well. robotics will bring about much more quicker and cheaper manufacturi manufacturing. block chain is truly a transformational technology. we're seeing a variety of currencies. i'm not predicting who the winners are, but i think we'll have a digital currency, and

there's more to do in digital payment. so this experience, sign, tech, innovation is beginning to sweep through everything of the human experience. i think it's going to be as impactful to the human experience as moving from the agricultu agricultural era to the industrial age. i mention all of this hoping that you're not going to ask us what our exposure is to all of this, but while we have done very well, we've outperformed by 1.5% in aggregate. that's about $1 billion over the last three years and about a billion and a half over the last five. i do think the keys to unlock and continue that even further are really going to be talent, partnerships, and process. it's going to be those that see the future before it becomes widely known, and the partnerships, meaning the external partners that we

partner with and gain a commitment from, it's going to be those things that are going to give us -- continue our good performance and enhance it going forward. a few things to close on. as far as reporting items that closed in previous closed session, crow holdings, the board approved for 75 million in november. indeed, we funds

relationship with blackstone. and this actually did close on december 22nd. thoma bravo, which is a private equity firm that we've had seven relationships with so far, the board did approve last month 100 million. it did close for 100 million. and actually last month, an eighth relationship with thoma bravo was approved by the board. we requested 50 million, and we did, indeed, get 50 million. on page seven of the narrative, you will see the absolute return portfolio. since inception, it's now 15 months old. it's annualized return has been

8.33% and outperforming the hedge fund index by 7.15%. we introduced you to kurt. in addition to that, anna is going to get help from the top up with kurt but also working to the analyst level is mr. martins from cambridge. we know he had very good training. he joins us a week from monday. we have a special board meeting coming up on january 24th, so two weeks from today, in which the board will hear on the motion before the board to die vest of fossil fuels in public markets. in addition, we have a board meeting. it's not a special board meeting, but including in the board meeting on february 14th, is we have a special section on risk mitigating factors that ellen is going to host for us.

it will include any pc and parametric. there's a lot to fair through, but we think it's very helpful and valuable information for the board to consider. and then lastly, i will mention if jay has anything to mention. maybe it's in the executive director report. actually, no, i won't mention that at all. that's separate. we'll talk about that later. there is some additional data in terms of charts from any pc last month, just economic data, and i included some comments in the narrative. with that, i will turn it over and ask the board if they have any questions or comments. >> commissioner? >> regarding your item no. 9, you wrote in there amount approved for investment is up to 17%. the target is 15. we allowed a range of plus or

minus 2. i would prefer you use the 15% number than the 17. the 15 number is a controversial number already. that's just a suggestion. >> okay. so 15 target. commissioner driscoll is correct. it's 15 target. >> any other questions? go ahead. >> on the special meeting of the 24th, are we to anticipate that staff's recommendation will be the same, or do you think there's going to be a change in staff's recommendation? >> we will release it on the 17th. so we're still working on that. >> okay. thank you. >> any other questions from the board. seeing none, we'll open it to

public comment. there are people who like to address us regarding the chief investment officer report. >> i would just like to speak -- (off mic) i would just like to speak on the absolute retain. that's a fancy name. i'm guessing that means hedge funds. either it's absolute loss or absolute gain. the hedge fund industry, you know, it's the most corrupt. largest gambling casino in the world, and you guys want to invest in it. if you went to las vegas, what would you rather be? the gambler or the casino. either own blackstone or blackstone stock. i think they went public in 1999 at like $14 a share. right now, it's over $500 a share. that would be the casino. you want to be the gamblers. you want to invest in the hedge

fund. the point i want to make, invest in the casino. that's black rock and blackstone. that's all i have to say. >> please. come on up. >> so bill's report was what i just said, a textbook case of complacency. he didn't mention risk at all, other than you're going to have a meeting, an agenda item on it, which i have zero hope for anything coming out of that. i don't like being the party pooper here. i've been the party pooper for three years now. i've been pushing hedge funds for three years even though i don't like them. by the way, i apologize to john. he was right. i was wrong. the hedge funds declined in the last fair market. i would suggest another bet,

which is why i suggested hedge funds. they're going to outperform wean now and the next market. i've been willing to take that bet. i've made that offer several times. my preference wasn't hedge funds, but that's the only thing you're going to do to de-risk your portfolio. i also like -- my preference is to index your equities and hedge them yourselves, but you're not going to do that. i like bill's emphasis on innovation. as i said, i was a tech analyst. i used to work with goldman sac sachs, so i'm just going to make an announcement. i'm tired of this. i'm tired of being the cassandra and chicken little and party pooper. some of you are tired of hearing me. i'm tired of asking you guys to make motions and nothing happening. i've taken all the arrows in the back. i've been the strongest advocate of the hedge funds.

i've talked to leona since october. i've mentioned joining the board. her position expires. i am going to seek that position. i don't think i'm going to get it. i have no political connections, but i'm tired of sitting up here and sounding like a fool for three years. so i will send you a long thing on it friday or monday explaining my reasons. >> thank you, mr. furland. are there any other members of the public that would like to address the commission regarding the chief investment officer report? seeing none, we'll close public comment. next item, please. >> item 10, the deferred compensation manager report.

>> good afternoon, commissioners. before you is the monthly activity report. i do have a couple of oral updates i would like to present as well, but if you have any questions on the monthly report, i'm happy to answer them now. okay. just a couple of updates for you. as you remember, the board voted to make some fund changes to the sfdcp lineup. we have communicated our first lineup notice. that's online, should you be interested in seeing the notice. so far, we haven't heard anything, which is a good thing. the average expense fees are actually being lower. i can't imagine our participants being upset about that. i just wanted to share that with the board. additionally, i wanted to inform you that contribution limits for this year will be increasing for the first time after two years. now the contribution limit will be 18,500. and the catch-up will be the

same, however. that stays at 6,000. participants will be able to contribute $500 more to their deferred compensation plan. finally, i have the stable value crediting rate for first quarter. i'm proud to inform you that it has increased to 1.91%. so the stable value credit rate has increased again. at this time, i would like to ask, is there any questions? >> any questions from the board? [off mic] >> the bottom half you outline the average account balances and all. can you walk me through the differences between the account balance and the participants' average account balance? >> oh, yes, absolutely. so if you're looking at this -- to the far right, are you looking at the total column? >> i'm more interested in understanding the difference

between prudential participants and account average. >> certainly. so for the average account balance, that's the average account balance for sfdcp accounts and that's the average across all their sponsors. that's the average prudential quotes for all their other clients, as a comparative. >> thank you. >> 457? >> correct. all their plan sponsors. >> and includes a contributory plan where the employer is either matching? >> that's a question for julie. >> 41c plans, yep. >> that's why it's very strong. there's no match. there's no city match. this is all voluntary. yet our average account balances are higher than at least a

snapshot of the industry. >> thank you. >> yep. commissioner driscoll? >> for that particular chart, be prepared to break it out, the act versus the retired. that line includes the retirees. there's always the issue of how actively are participants still saving even if it is a voluntary plan. >> you're right. i would assume this includes retirees, not just those who are currently contributing. >> so would i. i was going to ask to the discretion of the manager and the chairman of the committee. we had a meeting the other day. i think staff reflected a lot more activities that are going to be going on the next couple of months, plus the investment policy and the product -- i'm trying to think of the second document. we've been voting with t