2026-09-24 - Board of Investment Commissioners

00:00I'm in the city of Providence Board of

00:02Investment Commissioners meeting

00:04to order on Thursday, September 24th,

00:062026.

00:08I'm not invited. Please call the roll.

00:10>> Chairman Mayor Smiley

00:13is absent. Vice Chairman Silveria.

00:15Present.

00:16City Treasurer Hasson.

00:17>> Present.

00:19>> Councilwoman Ryan is absent. Mr.

00:21Costello.

00:23Absent. Mr. Hirsch.

00:24>> Here.

00:25>> Mr.

00:26>> Here.

00:27>> Four present, three absent. We have

00:29quorum.

00:30>> Perfect.

00:32To your item one, investment performance

00:34analysis, and hand it over to

00:36Julian from

00:40>> Thank you very much. Good afternoon,

00:41everyone.

00:42So, we are going to review start as we

00:45always start to actually on page one

00:47[clears throat]

00:48of the report titled City of Providence

00:51Employees Retirement System investment

00:53performance as of the state of August

00:5431st, 2026.

00:56And page one is just a snapshot of the

00:59market economic environment for the year

01:01and so the more in detail report which

01:03we will review in any given time. But,

01:05uh

01:06as uh the Board of Investment

01:08Commissioners know, uh like to recall

01:10August was pretty strong month for the

01:12markets. All of them actually showed

01:14positive. Bonds were flat, but public

01:16equities were positive. A lot of that

01:18was because

01:19uh corporate profits uh reported by

01:23publicly traded companies in the US in

01:25the second quarter of 2026 were actually

01:27up 53% year over year, which is pretty

01:30impressive. So, there were good profit

01:31news, which more or less offset uh the

01:35tougher news in terms of the conflict

01:37with Iran, high energy prices, concerns

01:40about interest rates, and the bond

01:42market. But, the bond market uh secured

01:44March funds center today which we uh

01:46into the 24. So, the bottom line is in

01:49the for the

01:50through the first eight months of the

01:51calendar year, uh equity returns, the

01:54returns of the the equity indexes that

01:58the retirement system has invested

01:59against

02:00range anywhere from 14.4%

02:03to the S&P 500 to 17.4% for small cap

02:07stocks of the Russell 2000

02:10to 20.2% micro algies for the Russell

02:132000. I should say 13.1% for the S&P 500

02:17through through the

02:20end of August and international stocks

02:21were also positive. Subsequently,

02:24a little bit of backtracking in small

02:26cap stocks.

02:27Large cap stocks have been favorable.

02:30If you think about interest rates,

02:31interest rates very much in the news big

02:33price up energy prices

02:36outstanding government debt really in

02:38focus.

02:39One good part of it means that one of

02:41the reasons that bond yields

02:4330-year treasury yields reached its

02:45highest level I believe since 2004

02:49today above 5.4% because of the strong

02:52economy still. So, notwithstanding all

02:54these challenges which have been tough

02:56for bonds resulted in a flat return to

02:58negative return for bonds. When bond

03:00yields go up bond prices go down.

03:02Good environment for stocks through the

03:04end of August. And if we go to the

03:05report itself just to keep things moving

03:09in the August environment things three

03:12I looked at

03:13the investment committee's August

03:15meeting.

03:16We could see that the market value for

03:19the retirement system portfolio at the

03:21end of the month was around I'll just go

03:23up here 698.8

03:26million. And four columns and you can

03:28see in that August investment

03:29environment or market environment that I

03:31just described,

03:32the return was 1.8%

03:35and that really was from equities. You

03:37know, they returned over 2% in your

03:39portfolio as well as hedge funds which

03:41also contributed. Whereas bonds were

03:43more or less flat. If you look six

03:45columns to the left-hand side you can

03:47see year-to-date return. This is

03:49calendar year-to-date. Of course, 10.3%

03:52trailing the benchmark index. But if you

03:54look one the one column to the left, you

03:57can see for the quarter to date

03:59in playing was the last three three

04:01months. You've actually got some

04:02outperformance. So earlier in the year a

04:04little bit of outperformance. Some of

04:06that is specific with two of your public

04:08equity managers. Uh Loomis Sayles small

04:11cap value, sometimes called Boston

04:13Partners mid cap value. I will point out

04:15that their returns have been in the

04:17teens. You can see their returns.

04:19Uh Loomis Sayles returns uh

04:22at the middle part and the bottom of the

04:24page year to date have been in the

04:26teens, but they trail the benchmark

04:27index. Importantly, those two firms

04:30since you hired them, they have

04:32outperformed the benchmark index net of

04:33fees. Public equities now let Peter

04:36speak to you financial reconciliation as

04:38well as the allocations. But I should

04:40make the preliminary point that at the

04:42end of the period, public equities were

04:45approximately 66.9%

04:48of the total portfolio of the Return for

04:50the total public equity portfolio was

04:5214% and in line with the market

04:56environment. The small cap side

04:57portfolio was the best performing sub

05:00asset.

05:01Go to the next page uh page four.

05:03Uh

05:04If you go to fixed income, fixed income

05:07at the end of the March reporting period

05:10accounted for 18.6%

05:13of total portfolio assets. As I

05:15mentioned before, tough environment for

05:17fixed income. Actually, the Loomis

05:19Sayles

05:19currently two tenths of a percent in the

05:21month.

05:22Uh the return for the year to date at

05:2410.1%. So uh

05:27Again, if you think about the bond

05:28market, uh the yields on a bond that one

05:31of your bond managers, let's say Loomis

05:32Sayles, buys today might be around 5%.

05:36It's in line with the market. But the

05:37limit is that when your yield goes up,

05:39the price goes down. So what you have

05:41had is the decline in bond prices more

05:44or less offsetting those yields. The

05:46good news is those yields are meaningful

05:49going forward uh, in terms of providing

05:53an extraordinary return. And finally on

05:54page five you will find the long-term

05:58reserve fund. Uh, you can see the hedge

06:00fund portfolio only 7% of the assets.

06:04Uh, the return for the hedge fund

06:05portfolio is just uh,

06:07I love year-to-date 6 columns in 9%. Uh,

06:10some outperformance there also

06:12contributing this year.

06:13Outperformance of the last few months

06:15and then you can see cash 7 and 1/2% of

06:18the portfolio. I'll let Peter speak to

06:19that. That's from contributions

06:22uh, to the fund. Uh, interestingly

06:24enough with the Fed hiking interest

06:26rates again and with interest rates

06:28being sticky on the upside along with

06:30inflation contrary to what a lot of

06:33economists and market watchers would

06:36have expected to say 6 months ago or 12

06:38months ago when they were expecting

06:40rates to come down.

06:42Uh, they would have expected cash to

06:43also be a very uh, more modest number.

06:46There is some generation return off

06:48that. And Peter can speak to that

06:50momentarily. So that's it for the

06:53uh, for the performance of the fund

06:54again 10.3% down year-to-date ending the

06:57period with 698.8

07:00million dollars. If you go to page six

07:04>> Yes.

07:06>> Uh, 8.5 financial reconciliation here

07:08focused on month of August.

07:10Uh, the portfolio begins

07:12uh, the month at I go to page where

07:15646.9

07:17million dollars

07:18and the contribution columns you see the

07:20contributions into the plan

07:22uh,

07:23uh,

07:24roughly 40 million

07:27has occurred uh, August.

07:30Less the pension payroll

07:33distributions of 8 million dollars and

07:35we have a net contribution of about 39

07:37dollars.

07:39Uh, you know, with the return positive

07:42for the month

07:43That that means that uh, the investment

07:45return approximated $11 million

07:48and again with

07:50number

07:51of 60

07:538.7 which is frustratingly below our

07:57$790

07:58target and we

08:01um

08:02Any questions about that?

08:07um

08:08I could

08:09probably stop there and see if there's

08:12any other questions about the foreign so

08:13on.

08:15We put the auction down.

08:17>> I have a couple of just Yes, you may.

08:19>> [clears throat]

08:19>> um

08:20Do you have any concern about any

08:22concentration in any of all investments

08:25relative to target some of them

08:28or all?

08:29>> So, the portfolio is very close to its

08:31targets.

08:33The

08:34>> I'm talking about the individual

08:35investments.

08:36>> Individual investments so

08:38are you talking about individual

08:39managers

08:40>> managers

08:40>> in the portfolio?

08:42>> Or individual asset class.

08:44>> Yeah.

08:44>> If it's an index, I don't care. If it's

08:46a specific portfolio manager.

08:48>> Sure. Sure. um

08:51You know, the portfolio

08:54the portfolio is relatively simple by

08:58design

08:59largely passive in equity.

09:02um We have um

09:06uh some mode common [clears throat]

09:08you know probably appropriate level of

09:09the active dressing your people

09:12uh in mid cap and small

09:14um as well as Brandes Investment

09:17Partners

09:18in international equity.

09:20um We believe that those exposures are

09:24appropriate, right? Uh they're sized

09:27well uh so we're not concentrating

09:30uh active risk

09:32um in any one part of the portfolio.

09:35It's distributed broadly.

09:37um

09:38We uh could quibble

09:41about having Boston Partners eco in the

09:44mid-cap and small-cap portfolio.

09:47Arguably, that is a concentration of

09:49another strategy, but

09:51it's it's not that typical and and you

09:53know, if we if we

09:55look at it a different way, we we are

09:57normal. So,

09:59I don't I don't have any concerns about

10:02the implementation of the portfolio

10:04broadly, but it does

10:07highlight the hedge funds.

10:09We have talked about

10:12concentration and not necessarily

10:14concentration, but exposure to

10:17Renaissance and the volatility of that

10:19portfolio.

10:20So, that would that has been the main

10:23area that we highlighted

10:26in the past. So, that's probably the the

10:29one area.

10:30>> I could be wrong,

10:31may not be the question you were asking,

10:33but

10:34I I really should have mentioned

10:36artificial intelligence in the market

10:38because as we know, it's cutting through

10:40everything. Main Street, data centers,

10:42infrastructure investments, the bond

10:44market.

10:45Bond yields have been affected by

10:48concerns about how much foreign issuance

10:50there's going to be.

10:51And one area where concentration risk

10:55has been

10:56a back and forth debate goes on at the

10:59state retirement system the other day.

11:01The panel will talk about this is how

11:03the index itself of the Russell 1000

11:05index is now greatly concentrated and

11:0840% of the market capitalization of the

11:11index is attributable to 10 companies.

11:14Those companies that the market expects

11:16to benefit disproportionately

11:18from increased profits from artificial

11:20intelligence.

11:21I would say that's the challenging news.

11:23The better news is with this portfolio,

11:26to your credit, you've got exposure to

11:29small-cap internationals

11:32stocks and mid-cap and that plus good

11:36discipline rebalancing

11:39is a good way to

11:40to manage that risk with the

11:42understanding that great article in Wall

11:44Street Journal today about the huge

11:47infrastructure investments that will

11:49apparently equate to 3.6% of size of our

11:54economy by the hyper-scale in 2025 and

11:572030. But that's not a portfolio

12:00concentration issue, but it does kind of

12:02come back to the index. So I think you

12:04have a good balance to tackle that and

12:06as long as we have good reallocation of

12:08cash, which we do between period and

12:11period, you're in sound shape. So maybe

12:13a better way to figure an answer. If you

12:15if you had $29 million and zero

12:17Renaissance today

12:19and Renaissance said I've got five.

12:22I bet the face value

12:24you know,

12:25they're not an easy

12:27first one to get into.

12:29Would you invest that money

12:32in Renaissance?

12:34>> Well, let me think.

12:36>> I I got to answer that.

12:38We're we're in the process of

12:40recommending

12:42a change to Renaissance specifically

12:45to reduce it

12:47and actually replace Renaissance. So our

12:49view

12:50our view is to

12:53terminate Renaissance.

12:54>> Because?

12:55>> Because it's the volatility

12:56[clears throat] of the of the strategy.

12:59It's a long short equity manager

13:02that has a track record that is very

13:05good historically.

13:08But the volatility of

13:11the strategy relative to long short

13:15equity managers is

13:18outsized.

13:19And it has a meaningful impact on

13:23performance than it did uh, year.

13:27So

13:28our view is that

13:30volatility should use my Renaissance

13:33specifically relative to other

13:35long-short equity managers.

13:37It is not

13:39um,

13:40not appropriate given really the desire

13:43to

13:44to minimize the volatility of the total

13:46fund's performance versus its benchmark.

13:48So,

13:50on our

13:52docket and work plan is

13:57a recommendation to alter the hedge fund

14:00portfolio with the goal of managing

14:02risk.

14:03>> The other

14:04thing for long after the one or two was

14:07transparency. So, hedge funds are not

14:10famous for being the most transparent

14:11asset class to begin with,

14:12[clears throat]

14:13but within that class,

14:15transparency is not what we want to see

14:17in putting that plan in place, knowing

14:19the component parts of the portfolio,

14:20getting timely and useful and accurate

14:23information with understanding those

14:25exposures is a challenge to be

14:28successful.

14:28>> It is as Renaissance is unique.

14:31>> Mhm.

14:32>> Um, it's probably considered one of the

14:34most opaque

14:36um,

14:38lowest transparency managers out there.

14:41Um,

14:42and

14:44in a blank sheet of paper, we would not

14:46have employed Renaissance for our

14:48portfolio.

14:49>> Okay.

14:49>> So,

14:50um,

14:51that's that's a challenge. There's also

14:55um, some normal kind of life cycle

14:57changes in impacting Renaissance. The

15:00founder, long-time founder,

15:02uh, Mr. Simon,

15:04he did pass away several years ago.

15:08But, ultimately, it's the volatility of

15:10that strategy.

15:12It has rewarded the fund

15:14over an extended period of time, and

15:16it's had very significant positive

15:18impact on the fund,

15:20which is why we we wanted to be very

15:22careful about uh, dislodging that

15:25manager from the portfolio.

15:27Um, so, that's that's a big focus of

15:30ours, and that's on the docket to uh,

15:32adjust.

15:33>> So, is the beta that you're trying to

15:35control more?

15:36>> Yeah. Well, it has

15:38um,

15:42it yes and no. Uh,

15:44the the

15:45the beta sensitivity to equity markets,

15:48it is uncorrelated, so it's not

15:50technically beta.

15:52Um, but it is as what it is twice as

15:55volatile

15:57in terms of risk. So, the ups and downs

16:00of the expected return is twice that of

16:02of the typical long-short equity

16:05manager, which also long-short equity

16:08enhances, increases risk in a hedge fund

16:11portfolio together. So, um, this is a

16:14risk management exercise first and

16:17foremost.

16:17>> Okay.

16:19But, continuing on on that Do you have

16:21any plans

16:22If you add our cash position

16:24to our fixed income allocation on

16:27target,

16:28do you have any plans to

16:30use that cash, invest it?

16:32>> So, the uh, expectation uh, is that we

16:37will

16:38um,

16:39I'm not going to say rebalance, since

16:41it's not sure where we're going to

16:42deploy

16:43the cash in line [clears throat]

16:45with the asset allocation targets. Uh,

16:48that's largely to minimize cash drag in

16:51most markets. Um, so, the expectation is

16:55that the cash balance um,

16:58will uh, I'm not saying we're going to

17:01deploy everything but about 15 million

17:04uh, in the cash on the targets so, we're

17:07going to largely go back

17:09to

17:11in line with how the portfolio is

17:14invested right now, which is slightly

17:15overweight to equity.

17:17>> Mhm.

17:17>> And we'll do that with the Department of

17:19Financial [clears throat] Institutions

17:20under the annual budget. This is the

17:22pressure for that. We do that when cash

17:24builds up.

17:26We work with the Department of Financial

17:27Institutions to have the cash deployed.

17:29Basically, they want to have deposit

17:30accounts.

17:32In the liquid asset classes that we're

17:33seeing.

17:34I don't see timing on that for the next

17:36what,

17:3830 months? That's That's

17:40I mean, talk to finance this

17:43this week and and that's a

17:46keep going.

17:47Um one other question that maybe um

17:51you you may or may not have the answer

17:53for but

17:54pooled energy

17:56as an asset class category

17:58in the economy

18:00how would returns work?

18:02How would inflation work?

18:04Well, I think if you if you stick I

18:06think inflation would be less but you'd

18:09still I think the commodities index, the

18:11Bloomberg Commodities Index first plus

18:1435%

18:1538 months

18:17through I mean, I can't write it.

18:20Through August.

18:22So, inflation would be less. Uh

18:25commodities appreciation would be less

18:27than 35%

18:29and inflation would be less than 3.4%. I

18:31think that's the real 12-month inflation

18:34rate through the end of August. But we

18:36still have sticky inflation as you know.

18:38Agriculture, other inputs into

18:41commodities are high so they'd be less.

18:43I don't think it can be quantified but

18:44and with the inflation you also have I

18:47think I'm not sure if this is your

18:48question but um

18:51uh I think electronics prices have been

18:53under pressure because of all the

18:55artificial intelligence investment. I do

18:58believe energy stocks have been doing

18:59fine. I forget what That's one of 10 or

19:0211 sectors in the large cap index.

19:05They've done fine. I'm not sure that

19:07putting that would have a big impact one

19:09way or the other. It's more of an

19:11where energy is.

19:13I guess the best way to put it is

19:15disproportionate. That's why I asked the

19:16question. You

19:18>> Is our vision distorted on inflation

19:21because of a

19:23a bump? And if you pulled it out

19:26>> Yeah.

19:26>> inflation really within

19:28the Fed's

19:29>> I don't think it is.

19:30>> closer.

19:31>> Yeah. I I I could take a stab at at the

19:34current question, okay? Um

19:37And I'll join

19:38>> [clears throat]

19:38>> join uh stab at saying he's good at

19:40math. It is sound, right? Um

19:44We The recent inflation is

19:48Well, first of all, inflation is still

19:49above target.

19:50>> Right.

19:51>> Um 3.5 is It's come down from market

19:54trade over the last 2 years.

19:57Um

19:58it's weather tariffs, right? And the

20:01um potential inflationary pressures of

20:04that are still the client.

20:06Um

20:07I don't

20:07>> [clears throat]

20:08>> The latest

20:10impact of inflation is associated with

20:13geopolitical concerns, right? With with

20:15the rise of oil.

20:16Uh and so that's considered kind of a

20:18temporary

20:20um small a shock-type inflation. But

20:22there's different types of inflation,

20:25right? Associated with monetary policy

20:27and things like that. So,

20:29um and

20:30uh

20:31we're not seeing in We're not seeing

20:34indications of um

20:36wage-driven inflation.

20:38Right? We've seen that those pressures

20:40moderate since the in

20:43in prior years.

20:44So, uh

20:47if you believe that, we'll continue

20:50that we're not underestimating. Um

20:53we may be overestimating inflation based

20:56on

20:57um

20:58based on that

20:59one-time geopolitical supply shocks.

21:02>> Question.

21:02>> Yeah.

21:03>> If you pull the oil out

21:04>> Yeah.

21:05>> and we're getting exercised over

21:08>> a blip.

21:09>> Yeah, yeah.

21:11Yeah, that's what it was, COVID.

21:12>> Yeah, it was something.

21:13>> Yeah, I think if I if I if I had one

21:15thing that I mean this is

21:17this is more of Main Street than and

21:19Wall Street, but I think everyone knows

21:21this basically, man.

21:22When you have a cumulative impact and

21:25inflation, one of the big concerns is

21:27once you get too much inflation, that

21:29could curb demand. That could destroy

21:31demand. And energy is yes, the biggest

21:33part of it, but it's not the only part

21:35of it. And when you take

21:373 years,

21:383% inflation and multiply it by 3, 4, 5

21:42years, now you're talking about the

21:43average straight man. We all know this.

21:45Uh paying 10, 12, 14, 15% for some

21:49services at the same time. Not to

21:52go too far in this point, as the price

21:55for an auto loan

21:56>> Mhm.

21:57>> uh or a mortgage is higher, too. So,

21:58what is the concern that's costing the

22:00average consumer? You're right. Once you

22:02pull it out, it becomes

22:04>> size.

22:04>> Yeah.

22:05>> No, just a number. A ballpark number,

22:07but not a number.

22:07>> Oh, yeah. Okay.

22:08>> Yeah, I think that but you know, you

22:09think about the Fed. I think the new Fed

22:11chairman to be a Fed watcher came in

22:14hoping to cut rates. The fact that he

22:17had a an honest vote to hike rates tells

22:19you something. He's pretty good on the

22:21inside of what's going on. It's not

22:23isolated to energy, I guess. But your

22:25point stands. It's a big component of

22:27that, no question.

22:29>> Thank you.

22:31>> I'm ready to close it.

22:33Okay. Um hearing none, I'd like to uh

22:35understand the motion here that's the uh

22:37report on the City of Providence

22:39Contributory Retirement System. Motion

22:41carried, Governor Gina Raimondo. Thank

22:43you for your time, Governor. Thank you.

22:45Thank you, Governor.

22:46Um

22:47I just want to uh

22:48I'm moving on to the item two,

22:49discussion about allowing to use the

22:50disaster donation funds and other trust

22:52accounts for today's discussion of the

22:54balance on the funds.

22:56Um do you want to do anything else?

22:58Any action?

22:59>> Here.

23:00>> Here.

23:01Um

23:03I

23:05I would ask you to turn to page 3 of

23:10the financial

23:11respective report.

23:16We'll highlight on the performance as of

23:19August uh in in uh one year for the

23:23various um trusts here from my eyes to

23:25the board of investment commissioners

23:28all the way up all the way down to the

23:29airport and the main grab and trust. Um

23:32I would note that uh all the trusts have

23:34been largely um

23:36uh

23:37allocated to the plane and according to

23:39the city uh estimate of location that is

23:41same strategies and their jackets.

23:45The returns of the portfolio we can see

23:48solid with the financials. Um

23:50uh relatively the policy and the last 12

23:53months basis from the 12 months

23:55August. Uh you'll note year-to-date uh

23:58in a one year basis um the portfolios um

24:02in aggregate are all outperforming

24:06uh their plan indices and that is driven

24:08largely by a pretty consistent

24:11well-managed overweight

24:13uh to

24:14equity.

24:14>> Mhm.

24:15>> Um there has been uh some high spots

24:18where it's like active management. Um

24:21uh then some managers have certainly out

24:23performed expectations in the current

24:26small gap. Um

24:27uh there's really no concerns that have

24:30been fulfilled or allocated

24:32uh

24:32more implemented um although I can

24:35understand the desire of the board of

24:36trustees to simplify the portfolios.

24:39Um

24:41we have [clears throat] to in the

24:42future. Uh but generally good results uh

24:46from uh the each one of the trusts. Um

24:50I'll move to the to uh

24:52contributions on the financial report on

24:54page four. Um

24:57what we have been we

24:59would typically show

25:02is uh just like with the financial

25:04reconciliation, we show the action in

25:06the month.

25:07Um

25:08the contributions were were pretty light

25:10uh

25:1122,000

25:13just support across the board. I didn't

25:15actually consider that um any kind of

25:17certain funds. Um

25:19uh net contributions were there. So,

25:21there was a little activity

25:23um in the month. I I would

25:26uh move to the year-to-date

25:28uh page five and you can see the

25:31net distribution activity

25:35which is with the all of

25:38the various funds as directed uh from

25:41from the trust

25:43into achieving whatever spending

25:45requirements are related to the trust.

25:48Those have occurred throughout the year.

25:49You can see their size here, relative

25:52size. Uh the one outlier to see in the

25:55Castle Parks and Recreation Fund uh at

25:57$185,000.

26:00Um

26:01long way of saying that we're we're not

26:02expecting uh any cash flows

26:05um to occur

26:07uh

26:08uh in uh the month of September, but we

26:11are prepared to

26:13um provide recommendations when those uh

26:15distributions cash flows occur.

26:18Otherwise, the cash balances, which is

26:20now referred to

26:21uh on the agenda item, we believe are

26:23appropriate

26:24>> Good evening.

26:26>> on the floor for the distributions.

26:30>> Yeah, the cash balances are largely

26:33um

26:34maintained through um

26:36>> [clears throat]

26:36>> regular spending and distributions that

26:38come from the fund, which effectively

26:40rebalances the cash balance position.

26:42So, uh we're in good shape for that and

26:44we've got no recommendations to make.

26:49>> Okay. Um

26:50uh a motion to accept the of the 2023

26:54special report with the United States of

26:56America agreement.

26:57Seconded by Treasurer husband all in

26:58favor. All those

27:00in favor say aye.

27:01Item three is a discussion on possible

27:04vote to rebalance support order. I don't

27:06think there's a recommendation for that

27:07today so we'll just leave that as a

27:09continuing item on the agenda.

27:12>> Motion to continue.

27:12>> Motion to continue.

27:14I have a motion to continue.

27:15>> Second.

27:17>> Motion made by Treasurer husband

27:18seconded by Commissioner Hurst. All in

27:19favor.

27:20All those in favor say aye.

27:22You know for any discussion I'd like to

27:24entertain a motion to adjourn.

27:25>> One more question.

27:27>> Yes.

27:27>> How are we doing on our monthly

27:28contributions to the fund?

27:31>> Um so normally I would bring a cash

27:33I [clears throat] couldn't bring it

27:34today but I can send it out to

27:35everybody.

27:36>> That would be good.

27:37Okay.

27:39In January are we on target with our

27:41>> Yes we are actually putting more money

27:43into into the fund than we're taking out

27:45which is

27:47I would have to ask the treasurer.

27:53Motion to adjourn.

27:55Motion made by Commissioner Rubicon.