At the Oct. 23 Finance and Audit Committee meeting, Brett Parsons, a relationship manager with PTMA Financial Solutions, briefed Adams 12 Five Star Schools on the district’s investment portfolios, market context and the legal limits that shape public-fund investing.

Parsons gave an economic update, summarized the district’s separately managed accounts and explained why the district has kept bond proceeds in ColoTrust rather than locking them into longer Treasury maturities.

Why it matters: how the district invests operating funds and unspent bond proceeds affects liquidity for construction projects, tax-law arbitrage restrictions, portfolio yield and compliance with state law and the board’s investment policy.

Parsons said short-term rates are expected to fall and that recent economic data have been volatile: GDP revisions, labor-market weakness and renewed inflation pressure tied to tariff uncertainty have complicated the outlook. He noted that government-statistics releases have been delayed by a government shutdown, leaving the Federal Open Market Committee to make near-term decisions without the most recent inflation and labor data.

On the district’s portfolios, Parsons described four accounts in the separately managed relationship: an operating portfolio (where the district holds treasuries, agencies and corporate bonds), bond redemption for debt-service timing, a cash-flow account in a money-market vehicle and a small remaining balance in an older bond issue. He said the operating portfolio held a little over $46,000,000 in fixed-income securities at the time of the presentation and that the advisor had recently added corporate bonds (he cited Apple as a recent purchase) to pick up yield. Parsons said credit spreads in the 2- to 3-year area were tight (about 10–17 basis points over comparable Treasuries at execution) and that state statute and local policy shape where and how the team can invest.

Statutory and policy limits cited in the presentation and by committee members include a three-year maturity limit for corporate securities (as reflected in state statute cited by the advisor), a local-policy cap that limits corporate securities to roughly 50% of book value unless the board authorizes otherwise, and a 5% single-issuer cap on corporate holdings. Parsons also noted that unspent bond proceeds become yield-restricted (subject to federal arbitrage rules) after a two-year period, which shaped the district’s decision to keep 2025 bond proceeds in ColoTrust to preserve liquidity while earning competitive short-term yield.

Parsons compared rates at the time of the 2025 bond closing and on Oct. 22: on March 1 the ColoTrust overnight rate was about 4.45% while a 1-year Treasury was roughly 4.08% and a 2-year Treasury about 3.99%; on Oct. 22 the ColoTrust overnight rate was about 4.25%. He said that, given project timing and uncertain cash flows for construction, keeping proceeds in ColoTrust had so far produced better realized yield than a short Treasury ladder would have.

The advisor said the firm maintains an internal approved-credit list that is narrower than state statute; although statute permits certain classes of securities, the advisor only trades within an approved issuer list to manage credit risk. Parsons said the portfolio has limited or no foreign sovereign holdings and that most client portfolios are heavily weighted to U.S. Treasuries and agencies with select corporate exposure to increase yield where prudent.

Committee members asked whether corporates or Treasuries looked riskier; Parsons said current market behavior supports confidence in corporate credit spreads but noted broader fiscal and equity-market risks.

No formal committee action was taken; the presentation served as an informational compliance and oversight briefing. Committee members requested the district’s formal investment policy and documentation of statutory limits for the committee files.

Ending: Parsons offered to follow up with detailed holdings for the operating portfolio; the committee thanked him for the briefing.