NAPPA's 2019 Winter Seminar
Yuliya Oryol, Ashley Dunning and Jim Vorhis spoke during the National Association of Public Pension Attorneys' 2019 Winter Seminar February 20-22, 2019 in Tempe, AZ.
Yuliya moderated an Investment Section Meeting panel, "Clear as Mud – The Fiduciary Duty of Private Fund Managers," on February 20th. This panel discussed the framework of fiduciary duty of private investment fund managers established through federal law in court rulings and enforcement actions by the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission (SEC) under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940 (Advisers Act).
The panel provided an update of the proposed interpretation of the standard of care owed by investment advisers to their clients, issued by the SEC in April 2018 and the response to the SEC in August and November 2018 from the Institutional Limited Partner Association (ILPA). The panel also discussed the fiduciary duty of general partners of limited partnerships and managers of limited liability companies under the common law and Delaware state law, how this compares to the fiduciary duty recognized under the Advisers Act, and what protections (and strategies), if any, governmental plans can rely upon from either.
Ashley spoke on a panel later that day on a related topic, "Fiduciary Implications of Investment Negotiations and Decision Making." That panel was sponsored by the NAPPA Fiduciary & Governance Committee, for which Ashley is NAPPA Executive Board liaison. The other two panelists and moderator were General or Investment Counsel of the Indiana, Utah and Los Angeles County retirement systems.
Jim presented "Mitigating Risk Through Effective Insurance Coverage: What’s Covered, and What’s Not" on February 22nd. This panel included an insurance carrier, a broker, and a coverage litigator for public retirement systems, each addressing benefits and limitations of the various forms of insurance coverage that a public retirement system may consider.
