El Paso City Employees Retirement Trust reports roughly $1.13 billion in net assets after positive January inflows

Jose Espino of the Office of the Comptroller told the City of El Paso Employees Retirement Trust on Feb. 18 that the fund held about $1,130,000,000 in cash and investments, $2,500,000 in receivables and roughly $227,000 in liabilities, yielding net assets available for benefits of approximately $1,134,000,000.

"The net of the trust accumulated inflows and outflows resulted in a net positive change to the trust's net assets in the amount of 73,800,000.0," Espino said during his presentation, noting audited FY '25 numbers were incorporated into the report. He said employer and employee contributions totaled $27,900,000 for January and that investment earnings for the month were about $84,600,000. Benefits paid to retirees were reported at roughly $35,600,000 for the period.

Trustees pressed staff on a discrepancy between the backup material and a slide showing in-house administrative actuals: the packet reported $883,000 while the slide displayed $720,000. Staff and Espino explained the difference was likely a timing issue and that some expenditures had not been drawn down before the month ended. Espino also flagged refunds as a volatile line item that he is tracking and said additional funds might be requested if refund trends continue to rise.

The treasurer's report, as presented, shows a positive change in net assets for the period largely attributed to investment fair-value increases. Espino emphasized that the January figures are preliminary and subject to reconciliation with audited records.