Richard Kelley: OFCA 2nd Vice President’s Report O K L A H O M A F I R E C H I E F S A S S O C I A T I O N
Greetings Brothers and Sisters! This year, we will focus on numerous topics, including As summer is coming to an end and kids leadership, difficult conversations, mentoring, retention and are going back to school, I hope that everyone recruiting, and labor relations. had an opportunity to travel or get away. Please make plans to attend so we can support and learn Time away is extremely important to from each other. recharge and refocus on being a positive In October, the fire service will once again focus on CommuOklahoma City FD influence within your organization. It is also nity Risk Reduction with Fire Prevention Week. a great opportunity to spend time Although this week is a great with those that are significant in our time to focus on reducing the risk lives. of injuries and death to our resiIn June, I had an opportunity dence, it should go without noting to meet with our department and that we should maintain this focus discuss the Firefighter Safety Standthroughout the entire year. down which provided a chance for Oklahoma is one of the states everyone to focus on the topic of with the highest structure fire death Rebuild Rehab. rate per capita in the U.S. As fire During this time, we were able service leaders, we must address to reflect on 2020 and focus on the this issue at all levels through positive attributes from the full installation of smoke alarms and year of change, consternation, and other fire safety programs. learning. If your department does not I want to share some of the have a smoke alarm program, take lessons learned from the challenges on that project and develop one for we all faced in public safety: your community. Governor Stitt with OFCA Executive Board Leadership sometimes falls to • We are stronger and better those who are appointed formally, together than individually. but we each understand that all our personnel are leaders. • We can do anything when we work together. Never underestimate your level of influence, no matter what • We will never be perfect, but we will always strive for collar brass is on your shirt. excellence. Leadership is a verb which requires action and influence in • Resiliency is more important than ever in our field of a positive manner to improve our great profession. Now more service. than ever, the fire service needs great leaders, so continue to • We have great people who can do extraordinary things. learn and improve daily. Until next time, strive for excellence Currently, the OFCA Board is preparing for an outstanding because leaders are not born, they are made. 2022 Chiefs Winter Workshop Jan. 26-28 in Stillwater.
Chase Rankin: Firefighter’s Pension Executive Director While we are still tallying the final results of the plan year ending June 30, 2021, the preliminary investment return for the year is 31.79%. This is the single highest return for the Oklahoma Firefighters Pension System and should be, once again, among the best returns in the entire country. OFCA Ex Officio We are so pleased with the return, and it is a wonderful reflection of the solid investment team that is in place to manage the assets of your System, as well as the hard work and dedication to the process by the board, investment consultant and staff. This brings the average annual return of the System to 8.87% each year since July 1, 1989. Since the actuarial assumed rate of return for the System is 7.5%, we are continuing to beat our benchmark with this part of the funding of our plan. Speaking of actuary, it is important to note that the actuary will not recognize the entirety of this investment gain in one year. They use a five-year-smoothing model to calculate the “actuarial value of assets.” In a year, such as this, where the return is significantly different than the normal year, the actuarial value of assets can differ
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quite a lot from the “market value of assets.” This is because the actuary uses a five-year average of returns and only recognizes 20% of the experienced gain (the portion over 7.5%) to calculate the “health” of the System. This is important to prevent decision makers from making drastic decisions based on wild swings in the market (good or bad). The good news for us is that if we maintain our 7.5% for the next five years, we will experience a gain each year as we smooth the 31.79% into the plan. This is an excellent place to be so that there is a cushion in place should the markets be less co-operative than they were this year. All this is to say that I expect an excellent bill of health from the actuary this year and the excess return only gives us further confidence that this plan is solidly on the path to being “fully funded.” The board of the System has put together an amazing portfolio under the direction of the investment consultant. They remain committed to the process which I believe will continue to have success well into the future. It is an honor to be a part of this success and to serve you as the Executive Director of the System. Please stay safe out there and know that we have you covered for your financial future.
