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6.F. - Page 2 of 39 <br />The portion of the City's portfolio that is managed by PFM has a total market value at quarter end of <br />$142,357,884. As of December 31, the portfolio was earning an annual yield at cost of 2.24%, and the <br />yield at market was 2.71%. The average maturity of the portfolio was 2.65 years. <br />The market benchmark, selected with consultation from the Council Finance/Audit Subcommittee, is the <br />Bank of America Merrill Lynch (BofA ML) 1-5 year U.S. Treasury Index. Below is a table summarizing the <br />City's portfolio performance compared to the benchmark, for the period ending December 31, 2018. <br />For the past several quarters, PFM positioned the portfolio with a duration less than that of the <br />benchmark to insulate market values in a rising interest rate environment. However, in the fourth quarter, <br />sudden shifts in the market sentiment caused interest rates to fall. This eroded some of those benefits, <br />negatively affecting portfolio performance versus the benchmark. At the same time, the declines in <br />longer-term yields positively affected the portfolio's absolute performance. <br />Fourth quarter performance was led by the US Treasury sector, as the flight to quality amid widespread <br />market de -risking led to outperformance relative to most other non-government investment grade fixed <br />income alternatives. Corporates felt the pressure of wider spreads across all industries. As a result, the <br />sector underperformed most fixed income alternatives in the quarter, while still returning positive <br />performance. Federal agency sector, supranationals, and asset -back securities generated positive returns <br />for the quarter. Spreads on negotiable bank certificates of deposit and commercial paper issuers <br />rebounded in the fourth quarter, and the portfolio benefited from additional allocations to these high <br />quality, short-term credit instruments at attractive yields. <br />Looking ahead, the Federal Reserve is now favoring more modest tightening of rates in 2019, instead of <br />three to four increases as they had previously indicated. Political gridlock adds additional uncertainty, and <br />as a result, PFM will seek to increase portfolio duration to be in line with the benchmark. PFM will seek to <br />take advantage of attractively priced new supranationals through the first several months of the year. <br />Significant sell-off in the corporate sector presents an opportunity to selectively add high quality, <br />defensive issuers with a focus on one to three year maturities; PFM will continue to prefer domestic <br />financial issuers, and remain selective on industrial issuers. Negotiable certificates of deposits and <br />commercial paper have normalized, following very narrow yield difference at year-end, and once again <br />provide an attractive, high-quality source of incremental income. The portfolio's strategy of broad <br />diversification, a drag in the fourth quarter where longer term US Treasuries outperformed most fixed <br />income asset classes, has benefited the portfolio over the longer-term and should continue to produce <br />strong returns and benchmark outperformance going forward. <br />City of Redwood City 1017 Middlefield Road, Redwood City, CA. 94063 Tel: 650-780-7000 www.redwoodcity.ore <br />130 <br />