East Hampton Village Takes Lower-Risk Investment Approach

The East Hampton Village Board expressed its collective support for a strategy of lower risk and moderate income when the village's investment adviser delivered an annual update at the board's work session last Thursday.

Year to date, the village's portfolio is up slightly more than 3 percent, Douglas Culver of Wells Fargo Advisors told the board. The portfolio, valued at $3.94 million as of Aug. 23, "is invested primarily in a strategy that would be moderate income, meaning that you're at the lower end of the risk spectrum," Mr. Culver said. Approximately 34 percent is invested in stocks, 55 percent in bonds, and the remainder is cash.

The cash position is high, Mr. Culver told the board, "because we just received in your annual contribution. We are trying to grapple with how to put that to work over the next year."

Monthly distributions to the Length of Service Awards Program for emergency service personnel are increasing, with an 11-percent rise over the previous year. "We are trying to figure out if that's a trend that we have to work with," Mr. Culver said. "We'd rather carry a reasonably strong cash position if the demands for the monthlies are going to continue to be increasing, which I expect they might be."

But over all, Mr. Culver said, he is pleased with the village's strategy. He illustrated the portfolio's position with an efficient frontier chart, which diagrams portfolios offering the highest expected return for a defined level of risk. The village is assuming "slightly less risk for potential opportunity of reward," he said. "From an investment adviser's standpoint, that's good, because we're doing our job. From a board's standpoint, I think you should be very happy because it fits right in with your investment policy statement."

"We are all laypersons," Mayor Paul F. Rickenbach Jr. told Mr. Culver, "but just hearing you this morning, Doug, I think the board feels rather comfortable with your conservative and mindful control over assets."

"Our emphasis has been safety," Mr. Culver said, "so we're going to stick with that."

The village board's planned discussion of Town Pond and the effort to restore its ecological health was postponed, as initial test data was "too preliminary" for the work session, Becky Molinaro, the village administrator, said after the meeting. The discussion will happen at the board's regular meeting on Friday, Sept. 15, she said.

The village will hold a bid opening on Sept. 27 at 2 p.m. at Village Hall for a renovation of the Police Department's jail and booking area, following the rejection of bids solicited in April. In January, Drew Bennett, a consulting engineer, had delivered a presentation to the board on improvements including the addition of polycarbonate glass panels in the holding area to improve the security of detainees and employees, modifications to lighting, a resurfacing of the floors, new ceiling tiles, and additional furniture. The project would cost approximately $90,000, Mr. Bennett said.

The East Hampton Fire Department's Aug. 27 fireworks display at Main Beach was "a resounding success," the mayor said. "The weather certainly held out, and everybody that took advantage of that wonderful evening, I think, came away with lots of 'God Bless Americana.' Kudos to the Fire Department."