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Danvers trustees to update investment committee bylaws before any portfolio changes
Summary
Trustees agreed the library must update its investment committee bylaws and operating procedures before Cornerstone can alter the endowment's strategy; a small subcommittee will draft the changes for the board to review.
The Town of Danvers Board of Library Trustees agreed on Monday to update the library's investment committee bylaws and operating procedures before authorizing any changes to the library endowment's investment strategy.
The change matters because the library's investment adviser, Cornerstone, told trustees it cannot alter the portfolio until the board updates its governing documents. "Cornerstone can't make any changes until we update this," one trustee said during discussion of documents found in the library files.
Trustees said the library's existing written materials include an old set of bylaws and an investment strategy created with Cornerstone; the documents lack dates and several offices named in the text no longer exist. The board directed a small subcommittee of trustees to review and update the bylaws and operating procedures so the investment committee can be reconstituted and Cornerstone can be given authority to implement any new strategy.
"We just need to go through it and update it to match our current positions on the board," the chair said. Trustees named two members to work with the treasurer: "Ken and Jessica are going to form a subcommittee" to draft revisions, the chair added during the meeting.
Trustees described the library's endowment as a long-term fund they would like to live off of from earnings while preserving principal where possible. Cornerstone, the board was told, has recommended a slightly less conservative approach than the library currently uses; trustees said they will review Cornerstone's recommendations only after the bylaws and operating procedures are updated.
The chair said the subcommittee will circulate a draft of the revised bylaws and operating procedures to trustees before the next meeting and return with recommended language and any suggested membership or term changes. Trustees also discussed setting explicit term dates for committee members so the board routinely reconfirms assignments.
The board did not take a formal vote to change the investment policy at the meeting; it took only the procedural step of authorizing the subcommittee to draft updates for board review.
