Sandoval County amends investment policy, board approves updated policy after portfolio review

The Sandoval County Board of Finance voted to approve the 2025 amended Sandoval County Investment Policy after a presentation on the county's investment portfolio and proposed policy edits.

County Treasurer Taylor and external portfolio manager GPA presented a quarterly review of the county's investments, reporting that the portfolio's combined earnings yield had approached roughly 4% and that total county balances were near $116 million at the end of the quarter. After discussion, the board approved the amended policy by voice vote.

The presentation described the portfolio's structure and risk approach: a core investment account targeted at about $50 million, a short-duration segment to preserve liquidity, and a cash-match/residual pool for overflow funds. The portfolio manager said the office is maintaining an average maturity near one year and generally reinvesting into the two-year sector when maturities come due. "We're managing the portfolio in that manner where we continue to, when maturities come due, we are investing back into the 2 year sector of the market, and we'll hold that course," the GPA representative said.

Key policy changes the board reviewed include an explicit maturity-constraint table (minimum 10% under 30 days, 25% under one year, 90% under five years; maximum maturity clarifications up to 10 years), formal adoption of a "prudent person" rule, clarified cash-management coordination between the treasurer and finance division, updated custody and delivery-versus-payment language consistent with the bank contract, and a clarified bank-selection/public-money section describing the county's relationship with New Mexico Bank & Trust. The treasurer also noted a small addition specifying quorum requirements for the Sandoval County Investment Committee (SCIC) voting.

Commissioners asked for clarity on which adviser was referenced in the memo. Commissioner Brook asked whether the document referred to the county's financial adviser or the treasurer's investment adviser; staff clarified the references in the memo to GPA (the treasurer's adviser) rather than the county's administrative financial adviser.

After the presentation and limited discussion, a motion and second were called. The chair and other commissioners recorded "yes" votes, and the chair announced the policy approved.

The amended policy will serve as the county's guide for portfolio maturity and security-type limits going forward and will be applied to the operating fund, core investments and cash-match account strategies described in the presentation.