(A) Prudence.
(1) The standard of prudence to be used by investment officials shall be the “prudent person” standard and shall be applied in the context of managing an overall portfolio. Investment officers acting in accordance with written procedures and this investment policy and exercising due diligence shall be relieved of personal responsibility for an individual security’s credit risk or market price changes, provided deviations from expectations are reported in a timely fashion and the liquidity and the sale of securities are carried out in accordance with the terms of this policy.
(2) 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 capital as well as the probable income to be derived.
(B) Ethics and conflicts of interest. Officers and employees involved in the investment process shall refrain from personal business activity that could conflict with the proper execution and management of the investment program, or that could impair their ability to make impartial decisions. Employees and investment officials shall disclose any material interest in financial institutions with which they conduct business. They shall further disclose any personal financial/investment positions that could be related to the performance of the investment portfolio. Employees and officers shall refrain from undertaking personal investments transactions with the same individual with whom business is conducted on behalf of their entity.
(C) Delegation of authority.
(1) Management responsibility for the investment program is held by the Town Manager and appointed designees. No employee may engage in an investment transaction except as provided under the terms of this policy and any procedures which may be established by the Town Manager. The Town Manager shall review the quarterly investment report (see § 2-2-8 of this chapter).
(2) There is hereby created an Investment Committee, consisting of the Town Manager, Finance Director and the Finance Controller or such comparable positions as may exist from time to time. Members of the Committee will meet at least quarterly to determine general strategies and to monitor results. Minutes of the decisions made by the Investment Committee shall be kept on file in the Town Clerk’s office. The Committee shall include in its review and deliberations such topics as: potential risks; authorized depositories; rate of return; maturity structure; and investment transactions.
(3) It shall be the duty of the Finance Director or his or her appointed designee to manage the day to day operations of the portfolio, and place actual purchase/sell orders with institutions. In the absence of the Finance Director, an appointed designee shall assume these duties. The Finance Director or his or her appointed designee shall maintain internal procedures for investing which provide appropriate investment and accounting controls and which shall be available for review annually by the independent auditor.
(4) Management of a portion of the portfolio and placing of buy/sell orders for a portion of the portfolio may be delegated to an independent investment manager designated by the Town Council. The transactions of any selected independent investment manager will be subject to the town’s investment policy and will be reviewed and verified by the Finance Department.
(5) The authority for the investment philosophy and selection of investment managers for the Town of Vail employee pension plan and the Town of Vail police and fire employees pension plan shall be the responsibility of the “pension plan trustee” as defined in the pension plan document.
(Ord. 3(1997) § 1; Ord. 24(2016) § 4)