Investment Policy for the City of Niagara Falls
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CITY OF NIAGARA FALLS By-law No. 2020- A by-law to provide for the adoption of an Investment Policy for the City of Niagara Falls. THE COUNCIL OF THE CORPORATION OF THE CITY OF NIAGARA FALLS HEREBY ENACTS AS FOLLOWS: 1. The attached text constituting the Investment Policy for the City of Niagara Falls is hereby adopted. 2. This by-law will come into force and effect on the day of the approval of the policy by the City of Niagara Falls. Read a first, second, third time and passed. Signed and sealed in open Council this 27th day of October, 2020. ............................................................... ........................................................... WILLIAM G. MATSON, CITY CLERK JAMES M. DIODATI, MAYOR POLICY Finance Policy #: 700.32 Issue Date: October 6, 2020 Revision Date: N/A Investment Policy 1. POLICY STATEMENT The purpose of this policy is to establish procedures and practices to ensure the prudent management of surplus funds and the investment portfolio of the City of Niagara Falls (hereinafter called the “City”). 2. SCOPE This policy applies to any investment of the financial assets of the City, including operating, capital, reserves and reserve funds, and trust funds. Trust funds refer to funds entrusted with the City by individuals for the perpetual care and maintenance of City owned cemeteries. 3. AUTHORITY The Municipal Act, 2001 (S.O. 2001 c.25) provides in Section 418, the legislative authority for the City to invest funds in accordance with certain prescribed rules. Section 420 permits the City to enter into agreements to invest money jointly with other municipalities and prescribed bodies. The prescribed rules governing investments are contained in Ontario Regulation 84/16 and 438/97 (see Appendices 1 and 2 to this policy). Trust Fund investments shall be made in accordance with the assigned responsibilities given to the City under the Trustee Act. 4. OBJECTIVES The primary objectives of the investment program, in priority order, shall be: 4.1 Adherence to Statutory Requirements All investment activities shall be governed by applicable legislation, including primarily the Municipal Act and Trustee Act and their associated regulations as amended. Investments and rating agencies, unless limited further by Council, will be those deemed eligible under Ontario Regulation 438/97 or as authorized by subsequent provincial regulations. 4.2 Preservation of Principal Safety of principal is of paramount importance. Investment shall be undertaken in a manner that seeks to ensure the preservation of capital in the overall portfolio. Staff shall endeavor to mitigate credit risk and interest rate risk as follows: Credit Risk: Limiting investment to safer types of securities; Diversifying the investment portfolio so that potential losses on individual investments will be minimized Interest Rate Risk: Structuring the investment portfolio so that securities mature to meet ongoing cash flow requirements, thereby reducing the need to sell securities on the open market prior to maturity; Investing operating funds primarily in shorter-term securities or approved investment pools; and Diversifying longer-term holdings to match term exposures to requirements of underlying reserve funds and to mitigate effects of interest rate volatility. 4.3 Maintaining Liquidity The investment portfolio shall remain sufficiently liquid to meet all operating and cash flow requirements and limit temporary borrowing requirements. This shall be done where possible by structuring the portfolio such that securities mature concurrent with anticipated cash demands. Furthermore, since all possible cash demands cannot be anticipated, the portfolio shall consist largely of securities with active secondary or resale markets. 4.4 Yield The investment portfolio shall be designed with the objective of attaining a market rate of return, taking into account the investment risk constraints and liquidity needs. Return on investment is of secondary importance compared to the safety and liquidity objectives described above. 5. STANDARDS OF CARE 5.1 Prudence Investments shall be made with judgment and care, under circumstances then prevailing, which persons of prudence, discretion and intelligence exercise in the management of their own affairs, not for speculation, but for investment, considering the probable safety of their principal as well as the probable income to be derived. Investment staff acting in accordance with this investment policy and exercising due diligence, shall be relieved of personal responsibility for an individual security’s credit risks or market change. 5.2 Ethics and Conflict of Interest Staff involved in the investment process shall refrain from personal business activity that could, or may reasonably be perceived to, conflict with the proper execution and management of the Investment Policy, or that could impair their ability to make impartial decisions. Such staff shall not undertake personal investment transactions with the same individual with whom business is conducted on behalf of the City of Niagara Falls. 5.3 Safekeeping and Custody All investments shall be held for safekeeping in the name of the Corporation of the City of Niagara Falls by financial institutions approved by the City. The depository shall issue a safekeeping receipt to the City for each investment transaction that lists all pertinent information. The depository shall also provide monthly reports for each account, indicating all investment activity, book value of holdings, market value as of month-end and income earned by the investments. 6. GUIDELINES The primary financial goals of the cash management program will be to ensure cash availability to meet daily cash needs and to maximize returns from investments in accordance with guidelines on risk, liquidity, safety and authority. 6.1 Authority to Invest Investments made by the City may be settled electronically by wire. Specific Investments require approval by one of the following approved staff in descending order: Director of Finance / Treasurer; Manager Capital Accounting A delegate of the above-mentioned staff. 6.2 Permitted Investments & Term to Maturity Permitted investments and their term to maturity, if any, are as outlined in Ontario Regulation 438/97, to the Municipal Act, as amended from time to time. In order to ensure maximum security and proper diversification in the City’s portfolio the maximum exposure for each category of investment and each individual investment within the category as a percentage of the total portfolio is as follows: 1. Category 2. Category 4. Individual Limit Organization 3. (Max) Limit (Max) 5. Federal 6. 100% 7. 100% and federal guaranteed 8. Provincial 9. 75% 10. 25% and provincial guaranteed 11. Niagara 12. 75% 13. 50% Region 14. Municipal 15. 25% 16. 10% and municipal guaranteed 17. Other 18. 10% 19. 5% government types not identified in this table (i.e. School Boards, Universities) 20. Corporate 21. 100% 22. 50% (includes Banks, Trust Companies, Credit Unions, and Corporations) Should the rating of any investment be downgraded below the minimum rating, it shall be sold within 180 days after the day the investment rating was downgraded. 6.3 Reporting On an annual basis at minimum, staff shall provide a report to Council which shall include the following: Listing of individual investments held at the end of the reporting period; Percentage of the total portfolio by investment category and individual organization; A statement about the performance of the investment portfolio during the period covered by the report; and A statement by the Treasurer as to whether or not, in his or her opinion, all investments were made in accordance with the investment policies and goals adopted by the City. 6.4 Performance Standards The investment portfolio shall be designed with the objective of obtaining a rate of return throughout budgetary and economic cycles, commensurate with the investment risk constraints and the cash flow needs. 7. DEFINITIONS Approved Entity: Move Ontario Trust and any municipality incorporated in the Province of Ontario. Asset Backed Securities: Fixed income securities (other than a government security) issued by a Special Purpose Entity, substantially all of the assets of which consist of Qualifying Assets. CHUMS Financing Corporation (CHUMS): A subsidiary of the Municipal Finance Officers Association of Ontario (MFOA) which in conjunction with the Local Authority Services Limited operates the ONE Investment Program, City: The City of Niagara Falls Credit Risk: The risk to an investor that an issuer will default in the payment of interest and/or principal on a security. Diversification: A process of investing assets among a range of security types by class, sector, maturity, and quality rating. Duration: A measure of the timing of the cash flows, such as the interest payments and the principal repayment, to be received from a given fixed-income security. This calculation is based on three variables: term to maturity, coupon rate, and yield to maturity. The duration of a security is a useful indicator of its price volatility for given changes in interest rates. External Client: Any approved entity outside the Corporation. Forward Rate Agreement (FRA): A contract with a qualified financial institution (eg. bank) that allows an investor to fix a rate of interest to be received on an investment for a specified term beginning at a specified future date. Interest Rate Risk: The risk associated with declines or rises in interest rates which