Retirement benefit trust approves modest rebalancing after Marquette Associates Q1 review

The St. Mary's County Retirement Benefit Trust Committee accepted a first-quarter performance report from Marquette Associates on June 26 and voted to approve a modest portfolio rebalancing intended to trim equities and increase fixed income holdings.

Patrick Wing of Marquette Associates told the committee the trust finished the quarter down about 0.6%, with U.S. equities the weakest asset class and private markets continuing to report delayed statements. "We began the calendar year at about $135,760,000," Wing said, and added that net cash reimbursements and negative investment change left the trust roughly $2.1 million lower than at the start of the year.

The presentation combined a market overview and an education session on private infrastructure. Wing emphasized infrastructure's steady income profile and relative inflation sensitivity, noting that some evergreen managers (IFM was cited) have provided distributions that helped fund reimbursements. He said private market distributions in the quarter included roughly $931,000 returned from legacy private funds and an IFM distribution of about $68,000, which reduced the need to sell other assets to meet reimbursement needs.

Committee discussion focused on benchmarking and long-term performance. Community member John Walters asked whether the 50-to-250-million peer bracket used in the report overstated or understated the trust's ranking; Wing said the brackets are set by the reporting software but pointed to the trust's strong 10-year ranking (in the 6th percentile) as evidence of favorable long-term results.

Following the report, the committee considered Marquette's rebalancing recommendation to trim equities (including a proposed $750,000 sale from a Schwab large-cap value fund) and allocate more to fixed income to reduce the current equity overweight. Panetta Van Cleave moved to approve the rebalancing as presented; the motion was seconded and passed by voice vote.

Votes at a glance
- Approve agenda: motion carried (voice vote).
- Accept 04/24/2026 minutes: motion carried (voice vote).
- Accept Q1 performance report (Marquette Associates): motion carried (voice vote).
- Approve rebalancing recommendation (trim equities / allocate to fixed income): motion carried (voice vote).
- Accept committee administrative report (payments, reimbursements, calendar): motion carried (voice vote).
- Adjourn: motion carried (voice vote).

Administrative notes recorded during the meeting included Marquette consulting payments of $24,266.11 and administrative fees of $8,703.18 (total $32,969.29), FY26 budget reimbursement for health care costs of $6,182,000, a Q4 reimbursement of $1,045,141, and cumulative 2026 reimbursements of $4,773,530. The committee announced future meeting dates of Aug. 28, Oct. 23 and Dec. 4.

The committee took no formal action to change policy or adopt new authorities at this meeting; it approved the consultant report and the recommended rebalancing and directed staff to carry out the approved trades and continued monitoring of private market reporting.