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Sixteen Years Serving Special Districts

By Laura Labanieh, Chief Executive Officer, CalTRUST

As special districts, you know well the importance and critical need of public agencies to provide specific, specialized services to the citizens of California. As a joint powers authority (JPA), the Investment Trust of California (CalTRUST) takes great pride in providing a specific and specialized services to the myriad of public agencies in California. Created by California public agencies, for California public agencies, CalTRUST is your solution for investment choice and diversification.

When CalTRUST was first conceptualized 20 years ago, the state’s investment pool, the Local Agency Investment Fund (LAIF), was essentially the only investment option for California’s public agencies that sought to invest funds while maintaining adequate liquidity. Many jurisdictions held 100% of their investments in LAIF with no diversification. With LAIF capped at $40 million back then, and allowing a limited number of transactions monthly, some public agency treasurers and fiduciaries began to realize that it was not a sufficient option.

One of these public servants was Dave Ciapponi with Westlands Water District. Working in concert with the Treasurers of Solano and Sonoma Counties, the idea of CalTRUST was born. In 2002 Solano County, Sonoma County, and West Lands Water District began forming a joint powers agreement to exercise common powers under government code to invest funds. This was a complex process and required legislation to amend California Government Code 53601 to allow municipalities to invest in such a JPA. After years of hard work, forming supportive symbiotic relationships with local government organizations and many hours of legal review to ensure that all the I’s were dotted and the T’s were crossed, CalTRUST officially launched with the founding agencies and a total of $25 million in assets in 2005.

As of today, CalTRUST has over 135 unique public agency shareholders and close to $2.3 billion in assets with roughly a third of assets under management being from California special districts. We are proud to have been a CSDA Endorsed Affiliate since 2008. CalTRUST is currently governed by a seven-member board of trustees, including Matt McCue, director of administrative services with Mission Springs Water District and Bobbie Ormonde, deputy general manager of Finance and Administration with Westlands Water District. In addition to having a high-caliber board of trustees, CalTRUST ensures we have the best partners to serve our public agencies. As a JPA, CalTRUST believes in process and regularly issues requests for proposals for all service providers to ensure the best service for our shareholders. Currently, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, serves as the investment management team for CalTRUST and is also available as a resource to our shareholders.

From day one, the purpose behind CalTRUST was simple, to provide investment diversification options to California’s public agencies and to be of true service. CalTRUST has accomplished this by creating a product that is easy to access, easy to transact in, of the highest caliber quality, and evolves as a direct result of the needs of California’s special districts and

other public agencies. From the start, CalTRUST offered two proprietary funds, a shortterm fund and a medium-term fund, with 0-1 year and 1-3 year durations, respectively. Over the years, CalTRUST has responded to public agencies’ needs by adding a government fund option, a money market fund option (that has since evolved into an environmentally conscious option), and an ultra-short-term liquidity fund. Working with our investment management team, our strategy always goes back to the most important priorities of managing public funds: safety, liquidity, and yield. The basics of the CalTRUST funds include:

LIQUIDITY FUND

Liquidity: Same-Day Cut-Off Time: 12:00pm PST Maximum Duration: 60 Days S&P Rating: AAAm Stable NAV

SHORT-TERM FUND

Liquidity: Next-Day Cut-Off Time: 9:30am PST Target Duration: 0-2 Years S&P Rating: AAf Floating NAV

MEDIUM-TERM FUND

Liquidity: Two-Days Cut-Off Time: 9:30am PST Target Duration: 1 - 3 Years S&P Rating: AA-f Floating NAV

BLACKROCK FEDFUND

Government Money Market Fund Liquidity: Same-Day Cut-Off Time: 1:00pm PST S&P Rating: AAAm

BLACKROCK LIQUID ENVIRONMENTALLY AWARE FUND

U.S. dollar-denominated 2a-7¹ prime money market fund Investment process considers environmental criteria Liquidity: Same-Day Cut-Off Time: 11:00am PST Weighted Average Maturity: 48 Days (September 2019) S&P Rating: AAAm

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CSDAFC Board and Staff

Officers

JO MACKENZIE, PRESIDENT, Vista Irrigation District VINCE FERRANTE, VICE PRESIDENT, Moss Landing Harbor District ARLENE SCHAFER, SECRETARY, Costa Mesa Sanitary District GLENN LAZOF, TREASURER, Regional Government Services Authority

Members of the Board

GEORGE EMERSON, Goleta Sanitary District PAUL HUGHES, CSDM, South Tahoe Public Utilities District MATTHEW MCCUE, Mission Springs Water District

Consultants

RICK BRANDIS, Brandis Tallman, a Division of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. STEFAN MORTON, Municipal Finance Corporation WILLIAM MORTON, Municipal Finance Corporation ALBERT REYES, Kutak Rock LLP NICOLE TALLMAN, Brandis Tallman, a Division of Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.

Staff

NEIL MCCORMICK, Chief Executive Officer CATHRINE LEMAIRE, Coordinator AMBER PHELEN, Executive Assistant RICK WOOD, Finance & Administrative Director

CSDA Finance Corporation 1112 I Street, Suite 200, Sacramento, CA 95814 tel: 877.924.2732 • www.csdafinance.net

Recent Financings

The CSDA Finance Corporation has responded to dozens of quote requests over the past several months and has facilitated the financing of more than $24 million in projects and purchases so far this year.

Lassen Municipal Utility District

Electrical Substation - $16,000,000

Groveland Community Services District

Refinancing Water Bonds - $3,000,000

Auburn Area Recreation and Park District

Energy Efficiency Project - $2,190,000

Calaveras Public Utility District

Water Tank Replacement - $2,035,000

Ebbetts Pass Fire Protection District

Fire Engine Purchase - $800,000

West Side Community Healthcare District

District Headquarters - $670,000

We have solutions for your financing needs, large and small. Contact CSDA Finance Corporation at 877.924.2732 or visit www.csdafinance.net.

With five fund options, CalTRUST offers the flexibility of both stable and floating net asset value (NAV) funds as well as different liquidity options, with the longest being two-day. The varied durations offered in the CalTRUST funds allows special districts to put your assets to work by segmenting based on their needs. With their sameday liquidity and short investment horizons, the Liquidity Fund, FedFund, and LEAF are great options for daily operating/working cash while the short- and medium-term funds are excellent options to put reserves and other long-term investable assets to work to achieve greater yields. Aside from the fund options, CSDA May/June 2021 - 1/4 pg. Ad CalTRUST key features make being a shareholder convenient and valuable. These key features include: no minimum or maximum investment amount; no minimum or maximum transaction allowances; no limit to the amount of subaccounts you can have; access to BlackRock investment expertise; ability to easily move assets between our different accounts as you’d like to meet your cash flow needs; an online shareholder portal allows for online trading features and set levels of access for individuals (i.e.you could have staff authorized to perform trades or just to view statements and other information); agencies do not have to join the JPA to participate in CalTRUST; and CalTRUST is only open to California public agencies so our investment policy mirrors California investment code.

In addition to the key features, CalTRUST has been focused on expanding our utility to agencies, such as yours, by providing regular educational offerings and market update webinars. In late 2019 we launched our first in-person Shareholder Summits and look forward to continuing those events later this year.

CalTRUST has achieved the growth and success we have today due to our focus on responding to the needs of California public agencies, providing exceptional service to our shareholders, and by creating strong partnerships, such as the one we have with CSDA. We welcome the opportunity to connect with you and look forward to your interest in learning more about CalTRUST and how we can be of service to you.

For more information, visit www.caltrust.org or contact Laura Labanieh, CalTRUST Chief Executive Officer, at 916.650.8186 or laura@caltrust.org.

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This campaign is centered on the concept that special districts go beyond providing important services to their communities. They make a difference in the lives of their residents and help our state thrive. The goal is to bridge the gap between special districts and the essential services that millions of Californians value.

The first step is to visit DistrictsMaketheDifference.org. The website features a simple-to-use toolkit filled with public awareness videos, web banners, posters, factsheets, and other materials that can be easily downloaded.

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What makes some of the greatest, most iconic pairings in history work? Well, separately, they’re equally awesome, but together—extraordinary. As a public agency, the work you do to run a district, to provide necessary services, to increase your entire community's quality of life, is invaluable. As a law firm that provides comprehensive and creative solutions to our clients, our work is pretty stupendous too, if we may say so ourselves. And when you put great and great together, the possibilities are endless. Contact White Brenner LLP to learn more about what kind of exceptional solutions we can create together.