Police and Fire pension boards hear Mariner quarterly report; discuss real estate strategy, Bitcoin ETFs and asset-allocation review

The Police and Fire pension boards heard Mariner's quarterly investment report, delivered by investment advisor Ms. Carey, who said the period was a "very volatile quarter" and reviewed market performance, manager returns and fund balances.

The presentation matters because it frames funding and allocation decisions for two local pension plans: Ms. Carey told trustees the police plan ended the quarter at roughly $19.0 million and the fire plan at about $19.4 million and that, as of a January update, the police plan stood at $19,545,000 and the fire plan at $19,895,000. Trustees focused questions on real estate positioning, manager selection and a request to model a small allocation to a Bitcoin ETF.

Mariner's summary. Ms. Carey said U.S. equity markets finished 2024 with a concentrated leadership from a small group of technology names she described as the industry "narrow market leadership." She reported the S&P 500 returned about 25% for calendar 2024, with roughly half of that from seven large-cap technology names and singled out Nvidia as a particularly large contributor. Mariner showed the plans' asset allocations: police roughly 50.5% U.S. equity, about 14%…