Maintained a strong pension fund, which is one of the components contributing to the City`s excellent bond rating

Produced a 8.7% return (versus the 7.75% assumed rate of return) on the investment of the MERF assets bringing the value of the assets to $1.03 billion from $940 million as of 10/30/2014

Success of investment program results in lower cost of pension fund to City taxpayers through required contributions from the City as employer

Maintained conservative, prudent stance; replaced weaker managers with stronger ones

Portfolio increasingly  diversified to capture higher returns and reduce risk

More than 40% of MERF trades placed through brokerage houses with local Hartford offices and through emerging (female and minority-owned) firms

Created an Economically Targeted Investment Program (ETIP)to assist in the stabilization and investment in local businesses

Released $600,000 from the Hartford Parks Trust Fund for the beautification and capital improvements to our City`s parks and cemeteries

Advised as a member of the Golf Task Force on the improvements needed to the City’s golf courses

Made commitments of $27.5 million to four new private equity funds

Created a real estate asset class totaling $80 million to 7 firms two of which, Cornerstone and Landmark Partners are local

Created a hedge fund asset class totaling $50 million to one fund of funds manager, $25 million of this commitment was dedicated to emerging and minority-owned firms

Created a Private Debt Asset Class totaling $35 million in commitments, two of which are  minority-owned firms

Renewed a $1 million loan to the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) and began participating on the Board of LISC, a group that supports subsidized low income housing development in Hartford

Implemented a new monitoring program for the City of Hartford`s deferred compensation plan investment options and the related expense credits

3,000 retirees are reliably paid each month in pension payments now totaling $98 million per year

Reduced cycle time for processing of benefit claims from several months to seven business days

Prepared and published  Pension Benefit  Summary Plan Descriptions (SPD) for all collective bargaining groups as well as for nonunion affiliated personnel

Established an automatic Employer/Employee pension contribution system with the Board of Education to increase the ability to invest funds faster and for a longer period of time

Advised the Pension and Health Task Force as to best practices for lowering pension and healthcare costs

Conducted an Asset Liability Study

Rewrote the Funding and Investment Policy Statement, which governs all investment decisions made by the Pension Commission

Completed a restructuring of our debt portfolio that generated $56 million in debt service relief over the next five years and maintained our investment grade credit rating

During Fiscal 2013-2014, the savings from debt restructuring were $17 million, applied against the $70millioin City budget deficit

Received a two notch upgrade from  (“A to “AA-“) from S&P that will provide lower borrowing costs to the city

Completed a of $132 million bond sale that generated $13 million in savings to the City’s FY 15 budget deficit

Invested City`s temporarily idle cash aggressively to capture higher returns,relieving pressure on the General Fund and taxpayers

Streamlined processes regarding the maintenance of bank accounts

Utilized technology to facilitate secure and prompt payments of paychecks and vendor checks

E-Payable and P-Card  programs yielded the City of Hartford $111,000 in 2014 savings

Organized and hosted bank fairs for city residents and Hartford employees

Worked with all of our banking relationships to increase their charitable giving and to provide broader loan generation within the City of Hartford

Developed an official and informative website for our constituencies

Organizing loan seminars throughout the community

Developing an Internship Program for our high school students in Hartford

Recipient of Trustee of the Year Award for excellence in pension fund management

Continue to reach out to our constituencies in educating them about their pension benefits and offering free counseling sessions as needed

Creating a loan program to assist people facing foreclosure within the city

Invited to the White House to share ideas on how to attract and retain minority investment firms