§ 11-15. Investment authority.

(a)

Trust funds may be invested in:

(1)

Time or savings accounts of a national bank, a state bank insured by the Bank Insurance Fund or a savings and loan association insured by the Savings Association Insurance Fund which is administered by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or a state or federal chartered credit union whose share accounts are insured by the National Credit Union Share Insurance Fund;

(2)

Obligations of the United States or obligations guaranteed as to principal and interest by the government of the United States;

(3)

Bonds, stocks, and other evidence of indebtedness issued or guaranteed by a corporation organized under the laws of the United States, any state or organized territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia provided:

a.

Bonds must hold a rating in one (1) of the three (3) highest classifications by a major rating service;

b.

Except as provided in paragraph c., all securities must be issued or guaranteed by a corporation organized under the laws of the United States, any state or organized territory of the United States, any state or organized territory of the United States, or the District of Columbia, and is listed on any one or more of the national stock exchanges.

c.

Not more than twenty-five (25) percent of the assets of the fund may be invested in foreign securities.

d.

Each board shall not invest more than five (5) percent of its assets in the common stock or capital stock of any one (1) issuing company, nor shall any plan invest in the aggregate of five (5) percent of the outstanding stock of any one (1) issuing company, nor shall the aggregate of its investments under this paragraph at fair market value in common stock and capital stock exceed sixty-five (65) percent of the retirement plan trust fund's assets at acquisition, nor grow to exceed seventy (70) percent of the retirement plan fund assets.

(4)

Bonds issued by the State of Israel.

(5)

Annuity and life insurance contracts with life insurance companies in amounts sufficient to provide, in whole or in part, the benefits to which all of the members in the trust fund shall be entitled under the provisions of this system and pay the initial and subsequent premiums thereon.

(6)

Real property, limited to open ended broadly diversified core collective real property investment vehicles and equity real estate securities, as permitted by F.S. § 215.47. Diversification shall be by property type and region. Total real estate investments shall be limited to no more than fifteen (15) percent of the total portfolio, and no more than five (5) percent of the total portfolio may be invested in any one real estate investment vehicle or security. Any real estate investment shall require that the underlying real property included in the real estate portfolio be appraised at least once every three (3) years by an independent property appraiser retained by the real estate manager and appraised internally, at least annually. Each investment shall be measured against an appropriate benchmark, as recommended by the board's investment consultant and approved by the board. Direct investment in individual properties shall be prohibited.

(b)

Pursuant to written agreement, each board shall retain one (1) or more financial consultants for the management of the fund property. The board shall convey property of the fund to custodians approved by the board to be held in trust for investment and reinvestment in accordance with the following provisions of this article:

(1)

Each board shall establish written guidelines and objectives against which the investment performance of any financial consultant retained by the board shall be measured. If a financial consultant fails to meet the guidelines and objectives or fails to perform in accordance with its contractual agreement with the board, the financial consultant may be terminated by the board. The performance of the investment portfolio of the plan shall be not less than ninety (90) percent of the median performance of comparable portfolios. If the performance falls below that minimum standard, the board may at its option remove the financial consultant.

(2)

Upon written request of the board, the custodian shall distribute cash and properties in the fund to the board or its designee. In requesting the custodian to make such disposition, the board shall follow the provisions of this article and shall not direct that any payment be made that would cause any part of the fund to be used for or diverted for purposes other than providing benefits to members and designated beneficiaries of the retirement plan and defraying reasonable expenses of administering the plan. Any written request of the custodian from the board shall constitute a certification that the distribution, as requested, is one that the board is authorized to direct, and the custodian shall not be required to investigate the application of such money by the board or its designee.

(c)

Each board shall have a continuing duty to observe and evaluate the performance of the custodian and the financial consultants retained by the board. The board shall, in selecting custodians and other financial consultants, exercise all judgment and care under the circumstances then prevailing, which person's prudence, discretion and intelligence is exercised in the management of his own affairs.

(d)

At least once every three (3) years, the board shall retain an independent consultant professionally qualified to evaluate the performance of financial consultants approved by the board. The independent consultant shall make recommendations to the board regarding the selection of the financial consultants for the next investment term. These recommendations shall be considered by the board at its next regularly scheduled meeting. The time, date, place and subject of this meeting shall be advertised in a newspaper of general circulation in the city at least ten (10) days prior to the date of the meeting.

(e)

The boards of the police officers and firefighters retirement plans shall identify and publicly report any direct or indirect holdings they may have in any scrutinized company, as defined in F.S. § 215.473, and proceed to sell, redeem, divest, or withdraw all publicly traded securities it may have in that company. The divestiture of any such security shall be completed by September 30, 2010. The board and its named officers or investment advisors may not be deemed to have breached their fiduciary duty in any action taken to dispose of any such security, and the board shall have satisfactorily discharged the fiduciary duties of loyalty, prudence, and sole and exclusive benefit to the participants of the pension fund and their beneficiaries if the actions it takes are consistent with the duties imposed by F.S. § 215.473, and the manner of the disposition, if any, is reasonable as to the means chosen. For the purposes of effecting compliance with that section, the pension fund shall designate terror-free plans that allocate their funds among securities not subject to divestiture. No person may bring any civil, criminal, or administrative action against the board of trustees or any employee, officer, director, or advisor of such pension fund based upon the divestiture of any security pursuant to this subsection.

(Ord. No. 124-X-O, § 1(16-7), 9-12-89; Ord. No. 124-X-P, § 1, 12-18-90; Ord. No. 124-X-S, § 2, 2-9-93; Ord. No. 124-X-X, § 1, 8-9-94; Ord. No. 124-X-Y, § 4, 10-11-94; Ord. No. 124-X-95-A, § 1, 12-12-95; Ord. No. 124-X-10-A, § 2, 4-27-10; Ord. No. 124-X-16-E, § 2, 11-22-16)