Morrill Memorial Library Investment Committee

Minutes of May 17, 2022 Meeting

The Zoom meeting opened at 9:00 am.

Attending: Cindy Stableford, Betsy Ruml, Rachel Kurland, John Hawkins, Rebecca Seibel

Minutes from 2/24/22 meeting approved and accepted.

Rachel reported for the Library Trustees.  They approved the recent changes to the LIC Rules of Operations document but Marty Frank had a few suggestions to improve it.  He had recently shared those with Cindy S. She and Betsy reviewed and agreed and changed all incidents of “Mascoma Wealth Management (MWM)” to “Investment Manager (IM)”.   They also removed a reference to Vanguard because all funds are now at Fidelity. Cindy Binzen signed the revised version and a copy is in the MML Rules of Operation folder in Dropbox.

Rachel also reported that the Library had received a substantial bequest from the Campbell Family Trust and asked advice for where to park the money while the Trustees decide how to use it.  They intend to address needs of the building, perhaps replacing the slate roof and the windows in the main front room and are awaiting estimates.  Rachel thought it could be up to a year before the funds were needed.  The Committee agreed given current market conditions and the short time frame it didn’t make sense to invest it in anything other than perhaps a CD.

Rebecca reported for the Friends of the Library.  The Friends approved up to $4000 for librarian requests for 2022; the book sale is being planned; and the annual membership letter should go out soon. They have a meeting tomorrow evening, 5/18/22.

Cindy reported that the pooled investment funds and the donor restricted funds have been transferred from Vanguard to Fidelity.  The $25,000 in operating cash from the Library was also transferred to Fidelity.   The restricted funds will continue to be managed by the Investment Committee.  To avoid future transaction expenses each year that there is a distribution Cindy and Betsy made the following changes to the restricted fund investments:  the GNMA accounts were merged into Fidelity Short Term Bond Index (FUMBX) and the Wellington fund was converted to Fidelity Balanced Fund (FBALX).  Based on the amounts in the restricted funds right now, unless the markets turn around, there will not be a distribution from these funds in 2022.  The three authorized signers on the Library’s accounts with MWM and Fidelity are Betsy Ruml, Cindy Stableford and Marty Frank.

Betsy sent Morningstar Portfolio reports showing the new investments at Mascoma as of 4/30/22.  The Trustees had asked Mascoma to invest in a growth strategy using ESG funds, and they have done this.  The portfolio currently has a 60/40 split of equities and fixed income.  The growth bias is evident in a heavier weighting in mid-market stocks than we had had before, and the ESG investment strategy has resulted in a notably lower proportion of the portfolio in the energy sector than is found in the S&P 500.  

Next meeting: 9:00 am via zoom on 1/10/2023.

Respectfully submitted,

Rebecca