Murfreesboro trustees approve FY26 budget and shift 5% of portfolio into infrastructure and private equity

The Murfreesboro Community Investment Trust Board of Trustees approved the fiscal year 2026 budget and authorized a 5% reallocation of the trustbportfolio during its regularly scheduled meeting.

The budget and asset-allocation changes were the meetingbtwo substantive items handled by the board. Chair (K.) opened the agenda item on the budget and asked whether board members had reviewed the proposed documents. The board then adopted the fiscal year 2026 budget by voice vote; no opposition was recorded.

Why it matters: The trustbmanages distributions tied to a spending policy of 5% and targets a 7.5% return. The boardbdecision adjusts the investment mix to lower near-term liquidity and pursue higher expected long-term returns, while keeping allocations within policy limits.

Investment consultant Tim Burdick summarized markets and recommended two incremental changes to the policy. "Our recommendation is to change the asset allocation from what's current on the screen to portfolio A. Again, moving fixed income down by 2 and a half, U.S. equity down by 2 and a half, increase infrastructure by 2 and a half, and private equity by 2 and a half," Burdick said. He told trustees the changes would reduce monthly liquidity from roughly 83% to about 78% of the portfolio and that the proposed infrastructure allocation would be placed in an evergreen JPMorgan fund.

Burdick framed the recommendation around valuations and expected returns: public bond returns are modeled at about 4–5% over the next 10 years while the JPMorgan infrastructure fund had earned about 10% last year and about 8.5% on a long-term average in the firmbmaterials. He also advised shifting 2.5% from U.S. public equity to private equity to capture an illiquidity premium; the trust currently holds a mix of evergreen private structures and partner funds.

Board members asked several operational questions about how the rebalancing would be executed. Burdick said the practical rebalancing would take dollars from managers currently above target and that, from a policy document perspective, the reductions would be recorded as decreases to the named U.S. equity and fixed-income sleeves. He also said the team planned to add a second evergreen private-equity manager (Pantheon) for diversification rather than immediately committing to direct drawdown funds.

Votes at a glance: The board approved (1) the meeting minutes; (2) the fiscal year 2026 budget (voice vote, no opposition recorded); and (3) the asset-allocation recommendation to move 2.5 percentage points from fixed income to infrastructure and 2.5 points from U.S. equity to private equity (voice vote, no opposition recorded). The board asked staff to bring an updated investment policy to a future meeting to reflect the new targets.

Context and numbers the board discussed: the trustbportfolio stood at about $68.5 million as of the June report, with a market-value update shown later in the meeting indicating roughly $80 million as of Aug. 12. Burdick said about $3.5 million was being held in cash to meet near-term distributions. The consultant noted a target return of 7.5% and a spending policy of 5%. He reported the portfolio had an annualized return since inception near 10% (14 months of operation) and that private-debt and private-equity sleeves had experienced depressed transaction volume, slowing realizations.

The board discussed meeting cadence and agreed to move toward a regular quarterly meeting schedule, with the caveat that trustees will cancel scheduled meetings if there is no substantive business to consider. Chair (K.) said staff will circulate future-date options and noted March/April is a critical window for budget and distribution decisions.

The board adjourned after confirming no further business.