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Independent review finds no deficiencies, urges tighter policy language for El Paso City Employees Retirement Trust
Summary
An independent review by RVK found no deficiencies in the trust's investment governance but recommended clarifying rebalancing authority, fee-review cadence, conflict-of-interest language and private-equity benchmark alignment; the board accepted the report and referred recommendations to the investment committee.
Paige Blazer, a consultant with RVK Incorporated, told the El Paso City Employees Retirement Trust board that RVK's independent governance review found "zero deficiencies" but identified several areas where policy language could be tightened to reduce ambiguity and strengthen long-term governance. The board voted to accept the review and referred the consultants' recommendations to the investment committee.
The report, prepared pursuant to Section 802.109 of the Texas Government Code, evaluated five statutory areas: investment policy, asset allocation, fees, governance processes, and investment manager selection and monitoring. "We did find zero deficiencies as we went through our review," Blazer said, while emphasizing the review's role in highlighting potential improvements rather than flagging compliance failures.
RVK recommended creating a succinct "investment beliefs" document to provide strategic continuity for new board members and to anchor decision-making, clarifying the IPS language that distinguishes general duties from explicit authorities delegated to the investment committee, and formalizing rebalancing rules so it is explicit which rebalancing actions require board approval versus staff execution.
Jake Derra, RVK's scorecard lead, urged the board to specify whether performance comparisons to peers are net or gross of fees and to consider deemphasizing peer-relative performance as a formal objective in favor of clearer, rules-based performance evaluation. He also recommended adding explicit language addressing potential conflicts of interest (for example, a quiet period or gift acceptance rules) and resolving a current misalignment between the private-equity benchmark used in policy documents and the benchmark reported in quarterly performance materials.
Trust staff and trustees praised the review as a constructive, "fresh set of eyes." A trustee moved to accept the report; the motion was seconded by Susra Valdez and carried by voice vote. Trustees asked that the investment committee review implementation priorities and bring recommended IPS amendments back to the board.
The board's acceptance of the RVK review does not itself change policy; rather, it starts a follow-up process. The investment committee was tasked with evaluating which recommendations should be implemented, and staff and RVK offered to help refine draft policy language.
The independent review and its recommendations are intended to align the trust's documentation with current practice, reduce ambiguity about delegated authorities and monitoring criteria, and strengthen written protections against conflicts of interest. The board will consider any proposed IPS amendments at a future meeting.
