§ 24-10-402 - Investments. - Arkansas Statutes

24-10-402. Investments.

(a) (1) The Board of Trustees of the Arkansas Local Police and Fire Retirement System shall be the trustee of the funds of the Arkansas Local Police and Fire Retirement System, subject to the other provisions of this subchapter.

(2) The funds of the system shall be invested and reinvested, and the funds of local fire and police pension and relief funds, as created by 14-52-106, 24-11-401 -- 24-11-403, 24-11-405 -- 24-11-413, 24-11-416, 24-11-417, 24-11-422, 24-11-423, 24-11-425, 24-11-428 -- 24-11-430, 24-11-801 -- 24-11-807, 24-11-809, 24-11-810, 24-11-813 -- 24-11-815, and 24-11-818 -- 24-11-821, with assets in excess of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000) may also be invested in accordance with the following procedure:

(A) (i) From time to time, the investment advisor under contract to the board shall formulate the policy to be followed in future investment activity, and he or she shall promptly furnish the policy to the board in writing each time he or she changes the policy.

(ii) "Investment advisor" means any person who for compensation engages in the business of advising others, either directly or through publications or writings, as to the value of securities or as to the advisability of investing in, purchasing, or selling securities or who for compensation issues or promulgates analyses or reports concerning securities, and who is required to be registered as such with the State Securities Department. Furthermore, the term "investment advisor" includes officers of the bank trust departments even though the officers are not required to be registered with the State Securities Department;

(B) The investment advisor shall have full power to purchase, sell, assign, transfer, or dispose of any of the moneys or investments of the system pursuant to the provisions of this subchapter and in accordance with the current investment policy filed with the board;

(C) At least semiannually, the investment advisor shall file with the board a written report setting forth, for the period since its last report, all investments purchased and sold, all receipts and disbursements, and any other transactions concerning system moneys;

(D) At each regular meeting, the board shall examine each written report received from the investment advisor since the last regular meeting;

(E) Anything in this section to the contrary notwithstanding, from time to time the board may direct a specific investment activity and shall be fully responsible for the direction;

(F) Anything in this section to the contrary notwithstanding, investment activity shall be subject to the terms, conditions, limitations, and restrictions imposed by law upon state public employee retirement plans in the making and disposing of their investments;

(G) Anything in this section to the contrary notwithstanding, until the assets of the system amount to at least five million dollars ($5,000,000), the funds of the system not in the checking account may be invested in shares of no-load mutual funds, each of which shall have the following characteristics:

(i) The mutual fund shall be an open-end diversified investment company registered under the Investment Company Act of 1940, as amended;

(ii) The management company of the investment company shall have been in operation for at least ten (10) years and shall have assets under management of more than one hundred million dollars ($100,000,000); and

(iii) There shall be no sales charge for purchasing shares of the fund and no redemption charge for selling the shares; and

(H) The funds of local fire and police pension and relief funds, with assets not in excess of five hundred thousand dollars ($500,000), may be invested pursuant to the supervision and management of the board of trustees of the system in the manner provided in this section. To the extent that such local funds are managed by the board of trustees, they may be commingled with other such funds which adopt the same investment objectives.

(b) Except as to the rights of a member, retirant, or beneficiary, no trustee and no officer or employee of the board shall have any direct or indirect interest in the gains or profits of any investment made by the board; nor shall any of them, directly or indirectly, for himself or herself or as an agent, in any manner use the assets of the system except to make such current and necessary payments as are authorized by the board; nor shall any of them become an endorser or surety or become in any manner an obligor for moneys loaned by or borrowed from the board.

(c) All assets of the system shall be held for the sole purpose of paying benefits and making disbursements in accordance with the provisions of this chapter and shall be used for no other purpose whatsoever.