Representatives from Stifel Financial and Dearborn Partners updated the board on the county's pension portfolio and investment strategy.

Brett Holland of Stifel reviewed the third-quarter numbers, reporting a beginning balance for the third quarter of $141,972,566, cash flow distributions of about $2.7 million for retiree payments, and positive returns that raised the ending value to $144,360,549 with a third-quarter return of 3.61%. He also reported year-to-date performance of roughly 8.05% through Sept. 30. Stifel's more recent unaudited update put the fund at about $140.6 million and a positive 6.26% through the latest close.

Brian Payne, regional director for Dearborn Partners, described the rising-dividend strategy that manages a portion of the pension assets. Payne said the strategy focuses on high-quality dividend-paying companies and aims for dividend growth in the mid- to upper-single digits over time; he said the rising-dividend sleeve has about $11 billion in strategy assets. "Every company we own has to pay a dividend," Payne said, noting dividend growth supports long-term income for pension liabilities.

Why it matters: Pension returns affect actuarial funding and the county's long-term obligations to retirees. Commissioners were reassured that cash on hand is sufficient for the next four months of retiree distributions and that the current allocation remains within the investment policy statement.

Provenance: Presentation and Q&A introduced SEG 957 and continued through SEG 1310.