Carlsbad committee backs moving proposed investment‑policy changes to City Council; staff proposes removing city staff from committee

The City of Carlsbad Investment Review Committee voted unanimously on Jan. 15 to forward staff’s proposed changes to the city’s annual investment policy to the City Council for consideration.

Staff told the committee that an annual review of the investment policy is required under the policy itself and that proposed revisions address investment objectives (safety, liquidity, return), ethics and conflicts of interest, internal controls, authorized dealers and institutions, portfolio strategy review and reporting. Staff said the proposed policy will be brought to the City Council for consideration on Feb. 25.

The committee then discussed potential changes to the committee’s composition and naming to align with California’s Brown Act requirements and improve transparency. Staff recommended removing city staff from the committee so committee members could not be contacted outside of noticed meetings in ways that might conflict with open‑meetings rules. Staff presented three appointment options: (1) mayor appoints all members; (2) mayor and city council members each appoint members; or (3) the City Treasurer nominates members and the City Council approves appointments. The staff presentation also proposed adding the committee to Title II of the Carlsbad Municipal Code and offered a naming‑convention choice between keeping “Investment Review Committee” or changing to “Investment Review Advisory Board.”

Treasurer Christian Peacocks said he favored option 3 and asked that the treasurer have the opportunity to review qualifications and make unbiased nominations for council approval. “My only feedback is regarding the appointments. My opinion for the record is, number 3, I'd like an opportunity to review the qualifications and application, and then make an unbiased nomination for, city council members to approve,” Peacocks said.

Committee members also discussed minimum qualifications staff proposed for citizen appointees: a bachelor’s, master’s or doctoral degree in business administration, public administration, accounting, finance or economics plus four years of financial work experience. Staff said the qualifications allowed an alternate path: in lieu of the work experience, a member could hold a valid CPA license, Chartered Financial Analyst credential, Certificate in Investment Performance Measurement (CIPM) from the CFA Institute, or an Investment Management Analyst certification. One committee member proposed broadening acceptable educational backgrounds to avoid excluding long‑experienced finance professionals who lack the listed degrees; a resident speaker described extensive county‑level finance experience and said certificates alone should not be mandatory for experienced candidates.

There were no public comments on the item during the meeting. Staff said feedback from the committee will be incorporated into the staff report that goes to City Council at a future date.

Formal actions recorded at the meeting included a unanimous vote to approve the minutes of the regular meeting held Nov. 21, 2024, and a unanimous vote to move the proposed investment‑policy changes to the City Council. The motions and seconds were recorded in the meeting but individual mover/second names were not specified on the transcript.