GLENDALE : New Panel to Review City’s Investments

Glendale officials said this week that they will take a closer look at the city’s $200-million investment portfolio to make sure the public is getting the best bang for its buck.

A new committee that will meet quarterly to review the performance of the city’s investments and will include a member from the private sector with an investment background is being formed to advise the City Council on investment strategies.

The committee will have seven members and replace a three-member committee consisting of the city treasurer, finance director and a representative from the city manager’s office, officials said.

Council members stressed that the new group will only act in an advisory capacity and not make any investment decisions. That authority will remain with City Treasurer Elizabeth Evans, whom council members praised for sticking to a conservative strategy in which nearly 100% of the city’s portfolio is invested in federally backed securities.

Councilman Larry Zarian said it will be “healthy” for the city to look at its investment options. But he said he is happy with the security of the portfolio, which currently has an annual yield of about 5%.

“We could have possibly gotten a better return if we had used our funds differently but it would have been riskier,” Zarian said.

Meanwhile, Evans, who will serve as chairwoman of the new committee, said she will resist any suggestion to invest public money in things she considers risky.

The city’s investment policy, adopted in 1991, prevents it from purchasing the types of investments that contributed to the bankruptcy of Orange County last year, officials said.

The creation of an investment advisory committee was suggested by the Warner Group, a consulting firm that performed a management audit of the city in 1993.