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SR-6-E (39) , 6 -[ t~: . - FD:CMD:br:srrnccap/word.pobas '. -"-- .... council Meeting: /FtatlrlUdrfj /2/:/ / /J/rjrj2/ Santa Monica, California March 3, 1992 TO: Mayor and City Council FROM: City Staff SUBJECT: RECOMMENDATION TO AUTHORIZE CITY MANAGER TO NEGOTIATE AND EXECUTE A CONTRACT WITH RNC CAPITAL MANAGEMENT COMPANY FOR INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT OF THE CITY'S CEMETERY PERPETUAL CARE FUND AND MAUSOLEUM PERPETUAL CARE FUND INTRODUCTION This report requests that city Council approve the negotiation and executlon of a contract with RNC Capital Management Company for investment management of the City's Cemetery Perpetual Care and Mausoleum Perpetual Care Funds. BACKGROUND The city owns and operates the Woodlawn Cemetery and the Mausoleum located on the cemetery grounds. A portion of the sale of each burial plot, crypt, or niche is set aside for perpetual care purposes and is deposited into the Cemetery Perpetual Care Fund or Mausoleum Perpetual Care Fund, as appropriate. The income from these funds is used to pay for perpetual care costs. The principal can only be used for investment purposes. As of 1/31/92, $3.3 milllon was invested for these two funds. In 1971, the city Council approved the retention of Scudder, stevens, and Clark, Inc. as the Investment Manager for the Cemetery Perpetual Care Fund. This was necessary because the types of investments authorized for these funds such as common - 1 - 6-L ....~ !;';:; '. L it' . stocks required a degree of investment expertise and continuous investment mon1toring ability not otherwise available to city staff. In 1986, the city Council authorized the formal establishment of the Mausoleum Perpetual Care Fund and the transfer of these funds to Scudder, stevens, and Clark for investment management. Prior to this, these funds had been invested by the City under the same guidelines as other City controlled funds. Discussion To ensure that the City was receiving the best investment return possible for these funds at the lowest investment management cost, staff sent Requests for Proposals (RFP) to fourteen investment management companies, including Scudder, Stevens and Clark, Inc. . Proposals were received from eight firms: 1) First Interstate Bank 2) Froley, Revy Investment 3) NWQ Investment Management Company 4) Palley-Needelman Asset Management, Inc. 5) Public Financial Management, Inc. 6) RNC Capital Management Company 7) Scudder, stevens, and Clark, Inc. 8) T. Rowe Price Of the eight firms submitting RFP's, First Interstate Bank, Froley, Revy, and Public Financial Management, Inc. were eliminated from consideration as these managers specialized in certain types of securities (fixed income or convertible securities) that provided lower returns than the other five managers. The remaining five managers were rated in each of five categories according to a we1ghted average scale based upon what - 2 - staff believes are the relative importance of each category: experience - 25%, performance - 25%, fees - 25%, investment approach or philosophy - 15%, and knowledge of applicable regulations - 10%. Staff then interviewed representatives of the top three ranked firms. While the interviews showed all three firms to be professional, competent, and capable of performing the services required, RNC Capital Management Company was selected as the top ranking firm. RNC Capital Management Company, headquartered in West Los Angeles, manages over $1 blllion in assets and has a number of governmentaljmunlcipal cllents. A number of these clients have special investment restrictions similar to Santa Monica such as South Africa-Free and socially responsible guidelines. They have a strong reputation in balanced fund investment performance. BUDGET AND FINANCIAL IMPACT There is a potential for an increased rate of return to the Cemetery Perpetual Care and Mausoleum Perpetual Care funds as the recent performance of RNC management has been better than Scudder, stevens, and Clark. Sufficient funds have been included in the FY1991-92 budget to pay the annual RNC Capital Management Company fee: $18,100. - 3 - . RECOMMENDATION It is recommended that the city Council authorize the City Manager to negotiate and execute a contract with RNC Capital Management Company for management of the City's Cemetery Perpetual Care Fund and Mausoleum Perpetual Care Fund. Prepared by: Mike Dennis, Director of Finance Ralph Bursey, City Treasurer/Revenue Manager David Carr, Assistant City Treasurer - 4 - --