The investment returns in the City of Carlsbad Reserve Funds have been well below any reasonable benchmark.
In fact, the mark-to-market losses recently exceeded $30 million in just one fiscal year and an additional $12 million in the following fiscal year.
For context, $30 million is greater than 12% of Carlsbad's annual general fund budget.
Transparency from the Treasurer's office regarding the investment performance in the City Reserve Fund has been unacceptably low.
The monthly and annual reports from the Treasurer have not provided direct "plain English" explanations of the investment returns in the City Reserve Fund.
This lack of functional transparency is particularly probematic in the context of the unprecedented losses experienced in the fund in 2 of the last 3 fiscal years.
Furthermore, the records of Carlsbad's Investment Review Committee (agendas, minutes, reports, etc.) are not available on the Carlsbad City website where the commensurate information is archved for all other city boards and commissions. An official public records request is required to obtain these documents, if they even exist.
The Carlsbad Investment Review Committee either hasn't been functioning or it hasn't been functioning effectively.
Whatever steps the Carlsbad Investment Review Committee took, if any, did not stop the prior Treasurer from making the extremely poor investment decisions that resulted in over $30 million in mark-to market losses in just one fiscal year and an additional $12 million of losses in the following year (FY 2022 & FY 2023).
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