(a) Operation. Council is hereby authorized to hold and supervise the investment of the assets of the Police Pension Fund, subject to the provisions of the laws of the Commonwealth and of this Plan and any amendment thereto.
The Pension Fund shall be used to pay benefits as provided in the Plan and, to the extent not paid directly by the employer, to pay the expenses of administering the Plan pursuant to authorization by the employer.
The employer intends the Plan to be permanent and for the exclusive benefit of its employees. It expects to make the contributions to the Pension Fund required under the Plan. The employer shall not be liable in any manner for any insufficiency in the Pension Fund. Benefits shall be payable only from the Pension Fund and only to the extent that there are monies available therein.
The Pension Fund shall consist of all funds held by the employer under the Plan, including contributions made pursuant to the provisions hereof and the investments, reinvestments and proceeds thereof. The Pension Fund shall be held, managed and administered pursuant to the terms of the Plan. Except as otherwise expressly provided in the Plan, the employer has exclusive authority and discretion to manage and control the Pension Fund assets. The employer may, however, appoint a trustee, custodian and/or investment manager, at its sole discretion.
(b) Powers and Duties of Employer. With respect to the Pension Fund, the employer shall have the following powers, rights and duties, in addition to those vested in it elsewhere in the Plan or by law, unless such duties are delegated:
(1) To retain, in cash, so much of the Pension Fund as it deems advisable and to deposit any cash so retained in any bank or similar financial institution (including any such institution which may be appointed to serve as trustee hereunder), without liability for interest thereon.
(2) To invest and reinvest the principal and income of the Pension Fund and to keep said Fund invested, without distinction between principal and income, in securities which are, at the time, legal investments for fiduciaries under the Pennsylvania Fiduciaries Investment Act, or as the same may be subsequently modified or amended.
(3) To sell property held in the Fund, at either public or private sale, for cash or on credit, at such times as it may deem appropriate; to change such property; and to grant options for the purchase or exchange thereof.
(4) To consent to and participate in any plan of reorganization, consolidation, merger, extension or other similar plan affecting property held in the Fund and to consent to any contract, lease, mortgage, purchase, sale or other action by any corporation pursuant to any such plan.
(5) To exercise all conversion and subscription rights pertaining to property held in the Fund.
(6) To exercise all voting rights with respect to property held in the Fund and, in connection therewith, to grant proxies, discretionary or otherwise.
(7) To place money, at any time, in a deposit bank deemed to be appropriate for the purposes of this Plan, no matter where situated, including, in those cases where a bank has been appointed to serve as trustee hereunder, the savings department of its own commercial bank.
(8) To maintain and invest the assets of this Plan, on a collective and commingled basis, with the assets of other pension plans maintained by the employer, provided that the assets of each respective plan shall be accounted for and administered separately.
(9) To invest the assets of the Pension Fund in any collective commingled trust fund maintained by a bank or trust company, including any bank or trust company which may act as a trustee hereunder. In this connection, the commingling of the assets of this Plan with assets of other eligible, participating plans through such a medium is hereby specifically authorized. Any assets of the Plan which may be so added to such collective trusts shall be subject to all of the provisions of the applicable declaration of trust, as amended from time to time, which declaration, if required by its terms or by applicable law, is hereby adopted as part of the Plan, to the extent of the participation in such collective or commingled trust fund by the Plan.
(10) To make any payment or distribution required or advisable to carry out the provisions of the Plan, provided that if a trustee is appointed by the employer, such trustee shall make such distribution only at the direction of the employer.
(11) To compromise, contest, arbitrate, enforce or abandon claims and demands with respect to the Plan.
(12) To retain any funds or property subject to any dispute, without liability for the payment of interest thereon, and to decline to make payment or delivery thereof until final adjudication is made by a court of competent jurisdiction.
(13) To pay, and to deduct from and charge against the Pension Fund, any taxes which may be imposed thereon, whether with respect to the income, property or transfer thereof, or upon or with respect to the interest of any person therein, which the Fund is required to pay, and to contest, in its discretion, the validity or amount of any tax, assessment, claim or demand which may be levied or made against or in respect of the Pension Fund, the income, property or transfer thereof, or in any matter or thing connected therewith.
(14) To appoint any persons or firms (including, but not limited to, accountants, investment advisors, counsel, actuaries, physicians, appraisers, consultants, professional plan administrators and other specialists), or otherwise act to secure specialized advice or assistance, as it deems necessary or desirable in connection with the management of the Fund. To the extent not prohibited by applicable law, the employer shall be entitled to rely conclusively upon, and shall be fully protected in any action or omission taken by it in good faith reliance upon, the advice or opinion of such persons or firms, provided that such persons or firms were prudently chosen by the employer, taking into account the interests of the participants and beneficiaries and with due regard to the ability of the persons or firms to perform their assigned functions.
(15) To retain the services of one or more persons or firms for the management of (including the power to acquire and dispose of) all or any part of the Fund assets, provided that each of such persons or firms is registered as an investment advisor under the Investment Advisors Act of 1940, is a bank (as defined in that Act), or is an insurance company qualified to manage, acquire or dispose of pension trust assets under the laws of more than one state. In such event, the employer shall follow the directions of such investment manager or managers, with respect to the acquisition and disposition of Fund assets, but shall not be liable for the acts or omissions of such investment manager or managers, nor shall it be under any obligation to review or otherwise manage any Fund assets which are subject to the management of such investment manager or managers. If the employer appoints a trustee, the trustee shall not be permitted to retain such an investment manager, except with the express written consent of the employer.
In addition to the foregoing powers, the employer shall also have all of the powers, rights and privileges conferred upon trustees by the Pennsylvania Fiduciaries Investment Act, or as the same may be subsequently modified or amended, and the power to do all acts, take all proceedings and execute all rights and privileges, although not specifically mentioned herein, as the employer may deem necessary to administer the Pension Fund.
(c) Investment of Funds. The employer shall not be required to make separate investments for individual participants or to maintain separate investments for each participant's account, but may invest contributions and any profits or gains therefrom in common investments.
(d) Compensation and Expenses of Appointed Trustee. If a trustee is appointed, the trustee shall be entitled to such reasonable compensation as shall from time to time be agreed upon by the employer and the trustee, unless such compensation is prohibited by law. Such compensation, and all expenses reasonably incurred by the trustee in carrying out his or her functions, shall constitute a charge upon the employer or the Pension Fund, which may be executed at any time after thirty days written notice to the employer. The employer shall be under no obligation to such costs and expenses, and, in the event of its failure to do so, the trustee shall be entitled to pay the same, or to be reimbursed for the payment thereof, from the Pension Fund.
(e) Periodic Accounting of Fund. If a trustee is appointed, the Pension Fund shall be evaluated annually, or at more frequent intervals, by the trustee, and a written accounting rendered as of each fiscal year end of the Fund, and as of the effective date of any removal or resignation of the trustee, and at such additional dates as requested by the employer, showing the condition of the Fund and all receipts, disbursements and other transactions effected by the trustee during the period covered by the accounting, based on fair market values prevailing as of such date.
(f) Value. All determinations as to the value of the assets of the Pension Fund, and as to the amount of the liabilities thereof, shall be made by the employer or its appointed trustee, whose decisions shall be final and conclusive and binding on all parties thereto, the participants and beneficiaries and their estates. In making any such determination, the employer or trustee shall be entitled to seek and rely upon the opinion of or any information furnished by brokers, appraisers and other experts, and shall also be entitled to rely upon reports as to sales and quotations, both on security exchanges and otherwise as contained in newspapers and in financial publications.
(Ord. 2137. Passed 3-15-93.)