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Lake County advisers recommend locking attractive yields amid market uncertainty
Summary
An external adviser told the Lake County Investment Advisory Committee that market volatility tied to recent tariff announcements has raised uncertainty; the adviser recommended preserving liquidity while locking multi-year yields and reported the firm manages $59 billion for 429 public entities. The committee approved the minutes and adjourned.
At an April 2025 meeting of the Lake County Investment Advisory Committee, an external investment adviser reviewed recent market developments and the county portfolio, recommending a cautious approach that preserves liquidity while locking attractive multi-year yields.
Miss Stanek, the presenting investment adviser, said the firm had filed its annual regulatory update with the Securities and Exchange Commission and now "serves 429 public entities" with approximately "$59,000,000,000" in public-entity assets under management. She told the committee that "the certainty of uncertainty has increased" following recent tariff announcements and that the firm issued a white paper and hosted a webinar to address related risks.
Stanek described how the Federal Reserve's guidance and daily market repricing have kept short-term rates elevated. She said market-implied probabilities have at times priced multiple rate cuts for 2025 but that Federal Reserve officials are "being very cautious" and are watching economic data before moving; she said rate cuts were not expected to begin until perhaps mid- to late 2025. On inflation, Stanek cited recent readings near 2.4% for CPI and about 2.6% for core PCE, and she noted a New York Fed survey showing one-year consumer inflation expectations near 3.58%.
Turning to the county portfolio, Stanek characterized the assets as split between overnight cash and longer-dated securities. She cited portfolio figures described in the presentation—approximately $282,000,000 for the securities piece and $426,000,000 for operating funds—and said the weighted average yield on the portfolio was about 3.65%, up from the prior quarter. She explained the maturity distribution intentionally concentrates a significant portion of holdings in the 0–1 year bucket "to take advantage of some shorter-term rates" while maintaining some longer-term securities "to protect interest income for the county for a longer period of time."
Lake County Treasurer Mike Zerna thanked Stanek for weekly collaboration and for working on reinvestment timing, saying the coordination "maximized our return on our portfolio." The treasurer emphasized that investment decisions also consider the county's operating needs and upcoming project funding requirements.
Procedurally, the committee unanimously approved the minutes from the Jan. 9, 2025 meeting by voice vote and later moved and seconded to adjourn with no further questions from committee members.
The meeting ended after the adjournment motion was approved; no formal changes to the county's investment policy or additional committee directives were recorded in the transcript.
