INVESTMENT REPORT - Laserfiche WebLink

Browse Search

County of Ventura Board of Supervisors September 11, 2018 Page 2 of 3 The three largest sectors, by percentage, were: Yankee Certificates of Deposit (28.00%), Commercial Paper (27.82%), and Supranationals (15.76%.) The three largest individual issuers, by percentage, were: Toronto Dominion Bank (7.39%), Federal Home Loan Bank (6.69%) and International Finance Corporation (6.58%). The Investment Work Group is actively seeking to increase the pool's sector percentages in California-based municipal bonds and investment-grade corporate bonds, but there are few truly high-quality offerings within our pool's time horizon. The portfolio has been managed with the stated objectives of safety, liquidity, and earning a competitive return, as outlined in the Statement of Investment Policy. In striving to maintain the primary objective, safety of principal, the County portfolio has for several years received a rating of AAAf1S1+ by Standard & Poor's, the highest rating given by that agency. On December 11, 2017, our rating of AAAf/S1+ was reaffirmed by S & P after an intensive 9 month review under the new, more conservative rating criteria. The portfolio is well diversified and has a low sensitivity to interest rate variations. Regarding the secondary objective of maintaining sufficient liquidity to meet cash flow needs, the portfolio maintains significant cash reserves in the County's bank, as well as significant holdings with ready access in LAIF and CalTrust. All of the pool's assets have a well-developed resale market, although of course it is our policy not to sell. Earning a competitive rate of return is reflected by our performance against our benchmarks, even though they all have less restrictive investment policies than ours. Accordingly, the portfolio will continue to be managed based on the assumption that interest rates within our horizon will rise gradually over the next several months. The Federal Open Market Committee seems certain to raise interest rates twice more in 2018, at 0.25% each time. Commentators suggest the increasing possibility of at least two similar increases in 2019. The Investment Work Group monitors the interest rate news daily. We will focus our investing on issues with maturity dates of one year or less for the next several months. This letter has been reviewed and approved as to form by the County Executive Office, the Auditor - Controller's Office, and County Counsel. Please contact me at 805-654-3726 if you have any questions regarding this item. Sincerely, STEVEN HINTZ Treasurer -Tax Collector 800 South Victoria Avenue, Ventura, California 93005-1290 www.varbg*W"Rylax -9 (WS) 654-37M