A Turnkey Municipal, Investment Solution

December 05, 2018

Last week, ONE Investments was pleased to announce that the OSC had cleared the way for it to offer enhanced investment management services to all its municipal investors. This is one of several steps that ONE is taking to ensure that municipalities have turnkey investment solutions whether under the new prudent investor (PI) standard or under the legal list. Here’s what’s you need to know:

ONE will continue to look after its existing legal list customers and will ensure that municipalities who don’t pursue prudent investor still have investment choices. Legal list options will also be available to all municipalities for short-term investment needs that might not be invested through an investment board.
ONE will have a customer service team comprised of a CFA Charterholder and retired municipal professionals. The team will provide advice on how to integrate asset management planning into long-term financial plans. It will also help translate those infrastructure investment needs into an investment policy, which municipalities are required to have under the PI regulation.
ONE is creating a Joint Investment Board (JIB) that will allow any municipality to participate in prudent investor. Each municipality in the JIB will have their own investment plan based on their investment policy, as required by regulation.
ONE Investment will be hiring a portfolio manager to manage investments so that they adhere to municipal investment policies. ONE is seeking to provide customized investment portfolios based on each municipality’s needs and with flexibility to adjust as needs change.

Municipal governments will have choice. Besides the ONE JIB, eligible municipalities may choose to set up their own investment board, while others may come together to set up a JIB.

ONE Investment is uniquely focused on municipal priorities. It is a not-for-profit formed by two established Ontario associations, Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO) and the Municipal Finance Officers Association (MFOA).

“The goal is to create a turnkey investment solution that is for the municipal sector, by the municipal sector,” said Judy Dezell, Director AMO Enterprise Centre, Business Partnerships & LAS. “We want to do what is right for municipalities first and foremost.”