90-DAY ACTION PLAN IMPACT REPORT · Grant Money for Lincoln Park Zoo 1 Streamline Social Security 1 Job Creation 1 Strengthen Relationship between 1 Hospitality and Retail Initiative

Investing in Our Chicago 90-DAY ACTION PLAN IMPACT REPORT

Treasurer Kurt A. Summers Jr.

City of Chicago March 4th, 2015

Treasurer Summers is Chicago’s financial

steward – an independently elected official

accountable to all 2.7 million Chicagoans.

His office has the ability and the responsibility

to positively impact the lives of all Chicago

residents. Treasurer Summers serves the

City’s residents, businesses, and employees

in three functions: as an investor, banker, and advocate.

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INVESTOR

As Chicago’s investor, Treasurer Summers leverages the City’s portfolio to

increase investment in Chicago and foster job creation in every community.

Treasurer Summers manages the City’s approximately $7 billion investment

portfolio and is charged with appropriately balancing risk, returns, and

liquidity needs for funding the City’s day-to-day operations. Additionally,

Treasurer Summers serves on five pension boards with nearly $25 billion

under management.

BANKER

As Chicago’s banker, Treasurer Summers works to identify opportunities to

provide better services to the City and its agencies that save taxpayer dollars

– leaving more money for schools, economic development and public safety.

By mandate, Treasurer Summers receives all money belonging to the City,

and is responsible for maintaining records and accounts and providing

reports on the state of the City’s finances. Treasurer Summers also serves as

ex officio School Treasurer of the Board of Education of the City of Chicago.

ADVOCATE

As Chicago’s advocate, Treasurer Summers works to empower young

people, workers and small business owners with the tools they need for

financial strength and success.

Treasurer Summers leads numerous programs that conduct financial educa-

tion, expand community outreach and promote small business growth. Trea-

surer Summers believes these programs must be expanded over the next

four years in order to strengthen the financial integrity of our City.

Upon taking the oath of office 90 days ago, Treasurer Summers launched a

comprehensive plan to identify potential opportunities to better serve

the people of Chicago. The plan included 15 initiatives that would act as the

foundational roadmap helping Treasurer Summers achieve his vision for

the Treasurer’s office over the next four years. It also committed Treasurer

Summers to concrete actions that would have an immediate and direct

impact towards each of these goals over the next 90 days.

To guide the plan’s implementation and ensure each neighborhood’s

concerns would be addressed, Treasurer Summers visited all of Chicago’s

77 communities in just 77 days. By the time his tour had concluded,

Treasurer Summers had met with and listened to more than a thousand

residents, business owners, and community organizations about the

specific challenges facing Chicago and how the Treasurer’s Office can

better serve these needs. This feedback has been incorporated into

each initiative of the 90-Day Plan, and due to resounding support across

the city, an additional 16th initiative has been added.

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• Increasing investment in Our Chicago

• Protecting our local pension funds

• Providing financial education and empowerment

• Enhancing city and sister agency services

• Committing to financial accountability and transparency

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Before taking action on each of these 16 initiatives, Treasurer Summers

and his team first had to identify the city’s current status quo and review

national best practices to determine where Chicago could improve

and innovate. This follow-up report lays out our goals and reports on the

progress we have made so far for each initiative.

This report is organized by each initiative which have been placed in

five overarching categories:


INCORPORATING COMMUNITY FEEDBACK FROM THE 77 IN 77 INTO THE 90-DAY ACTION PLAN

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• Throughout the 77 in 77 tour, we identified 247 different deliverables from

which communities would like to see action from the City Treasurer’s office.

– 75% of these deliverables couldbedirectlyincorporatedintooneof

the15initiativeslaidoutinthe90-Dayplan.

• The two initiatives that had by far the most popular support during

the 77 in 77 visits were:

– Initiative3:Encouragingfinancialinstitutionstoinvestinourcommunity.

– Initiative11:EnhanceChicago’sattractivenesstosmallbusiness.

• 70 out of 77 communities made some mention of a desire for increased

transparency and scorecards regarding financial information from banks,

the City, and the Treasurer’s office.

• Due to overwhelming support for comprehensive community economic

development plans, Treasurer Summers has added this deliverable as a

16th initiative to his plan.

BriefDescription Count Comprehensive Community Plan 24

Vacant Properties 10

Need for Affordable Housing 7

Grant Anticipation Notes 5

Need Grocery Store 5

Partner with Neighboring Suburbs 3

Storefront Rebate Program 3

CAPS Program 2

BriefDescription Count

Need Hospital 2

Parking Issues 2

Need Community Library 1

Elected School Board 1

Grant Money for Lincoln Park Zoo 1

Streamline Social Security 1

Job Creation 1

Strengthen Relationship between 1

Hospitality and Retail

InitiativeNo. Count 1 22

2 2

3 46

4 0

5 1

6 5

7 19

8 17

9 1

10 1

11 36

12 4

13 2

14 19

15 3

Other 69

TOTAL 247

Breakdown of Deliverables by Initiative (below/right)

Breakdown of Other Deliverables

50

40

30

20

10

01 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15

77 Communities in 77 Days

UpontakingofficeonDecember1st,TreasurerSummersembarkedon

theambitiousprojectofvisitingall77Chicagocommunitiesinjust

77days.FromtheEnglewoodtoEdisonPark,RogersParktoRoseland,

TreasurerSummerstravelledthroughoutalloftheCity’sneighborhoodsto

meetdirectlywithsmallbusinessesowners,advocacygroupsandcom-

munityleaders.Hereceivedtheirfeedbackregardingthecurrentfinancial

challengestheyfaceandpotentialopportunitiesforfuturecollaboration.

OVERVIEW

Increasing investment in Our Chicago

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Action

Progress Several managers have suggested that due to our pre-existing relationships with both local

entrepreneurs and investment managers, the Treasurer’s office could play a central role in

connecting capital with those who need it. Treasurer Summers will take the lead in identifying

exciting, up-and-coming entrepreneurs and growing businesses based in Chicago and

showcasing them to managers.

The Treasurer’s office will also highlight successful start-up accelerators, innovation centers

and industry clusters as well as any upcoming planned developments to make sure investment

managers are fully aware of the City’s economic development efforts. In the 3rd quarter

of FY 2015, Treasurer Summers will host representatives from the nation’s largest pension

funds and banks as well as leading investors and managers in the private debt, private equity,

hedge fund, and real estate investment industries for a conference in Chicago.

ENGAGE INVESTMENT MANAGERS TO IDENTIFY APPROACH ON EVALUATIONS

OF LOCAL INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES

FUTURE SNAPSHOT

INITIATIVE No.1

Encourage investment in responsible and fiscally prudent local opportunities.

SupporteconomicgrowthbylaunchingaChicagoTargetedInvestment

Programthathighlightslocalentrepreneursandprojectsbyleveragingour

collectiveinvestmentscale.

StatusQuo

Today, neither the Treasurer’s office nor any of our

11 local pension funds, who together with other

local pools of capital manage more than $50 billion in

assets, have any explicit mandate to invest capital in

Chicago-based entrepreneurs or businesses. As a result,

opportunities to invest directly back into our city’s

neighborhoods have long been overlooked and even

avoided. In February of 2015, when the Montclare Senior

Residences of Avalon Park opened in the 8th Ward,

few were aware that the construction was funded in

part by investments from Chicago’s own Laborers’

Retirement Board Employees’ Annuity and Benefit Fund.

This is the type of investment in our community we

should all expect.

BestPractices

To determine how we can best leverage our collective

assets to identify and pursue strong investment

opportunities right here in Chicago, the Treasurer’s

office undertook a national review of targeted

investment programs in other cities and states that

already invest capital back in their own regions

successfully. The Treasurer’s office has identified

several models that we believe can inform

the foundation of Chicago’s Target Investment

Program including:

1. CalPERSforCaliforniaInitiative

2. NewYorkStateCommonRetirementFund–Instate

PrivateEquityInvestmentProgram

3. NewYorkCityEconomicallyTargetedInvestmentProgram

4.Michigan21stCenturyInvestmentFund

Action

Action

Progress

Progress

By law, every state-sponsored retirement fund in Illinois is already required to submit a

report detailing their Illinois-based investments. Using these reports as a starting point,

Treasurer Summers will work with all local pension funds to gather similar data at the

City-level. These metrics will be used to measure each fund’s investments in Chicago-

based companies and projects broken down by individual investment manager.

Treasurer Summers and his staff have started vetting over a dozen potential enhancements

to Chicago’s investment policy that would further diversify the City’s portfolio while

also reinvesting assets right back into our neighborhoods. In particular, the Treasurer is

interested in exploring options that would extend the duration of the City’s current portfolio

while maintaining credit quality. Once completed, Treasurer Summers will use this review

to identify opportunities to enhance to our current investment policy. Potential investments

may include longer-dated instruments, yield-cos and infrastructure-linked securities.

Inflation and rate-protected security options are also being considered for incorporation.

DEVELOP METRICS FOR RETIREMENT FUNDS TO MEASURE LOCAL

INVESTMENT COMMITMENTS

LOOK FOR DIRECT INVESTMENT OPPORTUNITIES WITHIN THE TREASURER’S

OFFICE AND LOCAL RETIREMENT PLANS

LONG TERM GOAL

90-DAY ACTIONS & PROGRESS

Withover$50billioninassetscombined,theTreasurer’s

office,ourlocalpensionfundsandotherlocalpools

ofcapitalareinaprimepositiontoleadthewayonthis

initiative.Asaninvestor,TreasurerSummersknows

thatChicago–thethirdlargestmarketofthelargest

economyintheworld–isfullofstronginvestment

opportunitiesjustwaitingtobeidentifiedandpursued.

As an advocate, Treasurer Summers is committed to

bringing long-desired capital back to our

neighborhoods and in the process support business

creation and stimulate job growth.


FUTURE SNAPSHOT

INITIATIVE No.2

Actively seek to invest in City and sister agency debt.

Enhancethecurrentmunicipaldebtportfoliotoprovideadditional

capacitytotheCityanditssisteragencies.

StatusQuo

With a few exceptions, Chicago’s current investment

policy allows the Treasurer to invest in debt

offerings issued by both the City of Chicago and

most of our sister agencies. However, despite

the fact that such investments are legally permitted,

our municipal debt portfolio today contains no

City of Chicago or sister agency bonds. Investing in

the city’s debt would provide better returns,

help support local authorities like the CTA, and

generate more funding for our schools, parks,

and transportation system.

BestPractices

Before looking into opportunities that target city

and sister agency bonds, our investment portfolio

managers compared the city’s current investment

policy with the best practice guidelines outlined

by the Government Finance Officers Association

(GFOA) and the California Debt and Investment

Advisory Commission (CDIAC). The review was a

critical step to ensure that we are investing our

assets in the best securities possible to maximize

returns while effectively mitigating risk

and maintaining our required levels of liquidity.

Action

Action

Progress

Progress

Treasurer Summers’ investment management team has compiled a complete inventory of

all City and sister agency debt issuances over the last five years. This includes the

initial price, spread, rating changes, and total returns. Using that data, the Treasurer’s

team then searched for tranches that fit the current cash flow, duration/maturity,

and rating parameters set out in the City’s investment policy to identify any recent

missed opportunities. In order to prepare for future offerings, the investment management

team has also reached out to the City of Chicago Department of Finance and sister

agencies to identify indicative bond issuances in the next few years for the Treasurer

to consider as potential investments.

The Treasurer’s investment management team has carefully examined the City of Chicago

Municipal Code, City of Chicago Investment Policy, Illinois State Pension Code and

Guidelines for the City of Chicago Reserves Portfolio (Skyway & Parking Meters) and

identified the verbiage changes required to allow for more flexibility to increase our

investments in City and sister agency debt.

ENGAGE CITY & AGENCY CFOS AND CITY COUNCIL TO REVIEW

PAST AND FUTURE OFFERINGS.

REVIEW AND CREATE INVESTMENT POLICIES AND PARAMETERS.

LONG TERM GOAL


Treasurer Summers will seek to improve the

Municipal Code and Investment Policy by allowing

the City’s investment portfolio to take advantage

of market opportunities that exist in city and sister

agency debt offerings. TreasurerSummersand

hisinvestmentmanagementteamhavealsostarted

exploringotheropportunitiestobuypoolsoflocal

government-backedsecuritiesandquasi-public

agencybonds,IncreasinginvestmentinCityand

sisteragencydebtplaysanimportantrolein

TreasurerSummers’greatervisionofincreasing

investmentsinOurChicago.

BOND EXAMPLE 1

Cook County of Illinois G.O.,Taxable Municipal

BOND EXAMPLE 2

Chicago O’Hare Airport Ser A Ref, AMT Taxable Municipal

BOND EXAMPLE 3

Chicago Park District Ser B-Ref, Tax Exempt Municipal

Issued: 2012

2.03% 11/15/18

Current Ratings: AA/A1/A+

Price at issuance: 100

Current market value: 97.451

Annualized Return: 0.62%

Issued: 9/12/12

5.00% 1/1/18

Current Ratings: A-/A2/A-

Price at issuance: 114.911



Issued: 9/1/13

4.00% 1/1/18

Current Ratings: AA=/A3/AA-

Price at issuance: 108.333




INITIATIVE No.3

Encourage financial institutions to invest in our communities and entrepreneurs.

Increaselocalinvestmentbypromotingbusinessesandentrepreneurs

andensuringtransparencyandaccountabilityonlocalinvestment

practicesforfinancialinstitutionsthatdobusinesswiththeCity.

StatusQuo

Access to capital remains one of the biggest concerns

for entrepreneurs and small businesses all over

Chicago. However, the city does not currently leverage

its relationship with its municipal depositories to hold

local banks to a higher standard when it comes to

allocating capital in the neighborhoods where they

are located.

BestPractices

Treasurer Summers’ team has reviewed the best

practices for responsible local banking and

community investment as established by the

National Community Reinvestment Coalition

(NCRC) and compared them with those currently

in place in Chicago. Other innovative ideas

from several other cities including New York,

Philadelphia, Seattle, Boston, Los Angeles, and

Cleveland have also been examined.

LONG TERM GOAL


FUTURE SNAPSHOT

Action

Action

Progress

Progress

In February, Treasurer Summers hosted a meeting of dozens of community investment

partners in order to brainstorm innovative solutions to increase accountability of our

City’s commercial banking in their lending practices to local businesses and entrepreneurs.

We have created a set of deliverables from this working group to address issues of:

• Bankaccountability,transparencyandeaseinreporting

• Growthinaccesstocapitalwithinneighborhoods

• Borrowerreferralandstreamliningofunderwritingprocesses

• Governmentroleindirectlendingorcreditenhancementtoborrowers

• Municipalordinancereviewforthosepoliciesthatmayunknowinglycreatebarriers

toneighborhoodlending

• Solutionsforcommercialandmultifamilyvacancieswhichaddressexistingbankloans

andforeclosureprocess

• Bank-ledpurchasingofsmallloanpoolswhichcanprovideadditionalcapacityforassist

agenciesandcapitalaccesscenterstounderwritemoreloans

Treasurer Summers will hold similar meetings on a regular basis to ensure these community

investment partners remain part of discussion on how we set new standards for holding

local banks accountable to their neighbors.

Using feedback from these meetings combined with best practices, the Treasurer’s office

will create a set of standards and metrics by which to judge the efforts that municipal

depositories make to reinvest in their communities.

ANNOUNCE A COMMITTEE OF COMMUNITY LENDERS, BANKS, INVESTORS,

AND SMALL BUSINESSES TO REVIEW OPPORTUNITIES AND POOL RESOURCES.

DEVELOP COMMUNITY INVESTMENT CRITERIA FOR REGULAR FINANCIAL

REPORTING AND DECISION-MAKING.

Withpublicdesireforcapitalaccesscontinuingto

grow,TreasurerSummerswillworkwiththeMayor,

theComptroller,andtheCity’sChiefFinancialOfficer

tocontemplaterevisions to the municipal

depositories ordinance which would require all

banks who hope to work with the City to have

greater accountability to small businesses and

entrepreneurs located in their communities.

Protecting our local pension funds


INITIATIVE No.4

Promote collaboration across local retirement plans to achieve significant savings by securing lower investment fees.

Reducefeeschargedtolocalpublicpensionfundsanddeferred

compensationplansbypoolingpurchasingpoweronoverlapping

investmentsacrossfundstohelpprotectthelong-termfunding

forparticipantsandannuitantsandprotecttaxpayers.

StatusQuo

Since their inception, the city’s 11 public employee

pension funds have been treated separately when

negotiating contracts with investment managers. This

has allowed investment managers to charge different

fees to each fund causing some to pay substantially

more than others. As a result, our local pension funds

do not currently receive any benefits that their collective

size and scale should command, and retirees are

subject to higher investment fees across the board.

BestPractices

Seeing a prime opportunity for collaboration be-

tween these funds, the Treasurer’s team conducted

interviews and launched a thorough review of other

cities that have already worked to successfully pool

the purchasing power of their local pension funds.

Pension funds in New York City, Los Angeles, and

Atlanta have achieved meaningful savings by using

aggregate pricing.

LONG TERM GOAL


FUTURE SNAPSHOT

Action

Action

Progress

Progress

Treasurer Summers has introduced a joint resolution to each of Chicago’s 11 funds that

proposes they partner with each other and the Treasurer to share information regarding

how much they pay investment managers and work together to reduce those fees.

This first of its kind data-sharing clearinghouse will be used to renegotiate better contracts

for each fund and could help achieve substantial savings on the $144 million in fees

they pay investment managers annually.

Longer-term success requires continued coordination and information sharing

The Treasurer’s team analyzed each fund to discover that of the 236 unique investment

managers across all funds, 80 percent have overlapping investments and the top

23 managers receive more then half of all investment fees. Many investment managers

that hold overlapping investments in our local funds have already reached out to

Treasurer Summers to offer their recommendations on the best opportunities to

negotiate lower fees.

REQUEST AND CONSOLIDATE INVESTMENT DATA ACROSS FUNDS

AND BEGIN ANALYZING SPECIFIC OPPORTUNITIES.

MEET WITH INVESTMENT MANAGERS THAT HAVE OVERLAPPING

INVESTMENTS FROM LOCAL FUNDS.

Thejointresolutionregardingaggregatedinvestment

feesisaconcreteexampleofrealcollaboration

occurringtodayamongourlocalretirementplans.Once

thenecessaryinfrastructuretosharethisimportant

dataisinplace,Treasurer Summers will have

collaborated with pension funds and investment

managers to save our local pension plans over

a potential $1 billion over the course of their lifetimes.

MUNICIPALWORKING

GROUP REPORTS

PUBLIC REPORTS

CTA HEALTH

POLICE PARK

LABOR COOK

TEACHERS FP

CTA MWRD

MUNICIPAL

CLEARINGHOUSE

FUND

XXX

XXX

XXX

...

AUM

XXX

XXX

XXX

...

FEES

XXX

XXX

XXX

...

A B

C> >

Total of $144M in investment management fees paid each year across the plans

40

30

20

10

0

25

15

10

5

80

60

40

20

0

Ave

rag

e f

ee

s (b

ps)

An

nu

al in

ve

stm

en

t m

an

ag

em

en

t fe

es

($M

)

MUNI POLICE LABOR FIRE TEACHERS CTA RETIRE

CTA HEALTH

PARK COOK COUNTY

FOREST PRESERVE

WATER RECLAM.

CITY OF CHICAGO SISTER AGENCIES COOK COUNTY OTHER

38

11

4 31

5

27


INITIATIVE No.5

Develop the best practice approach to identify and invest in emerging investment managers.

Gainaccesstoawiderbreadthofqualifiedinvestmentmanagersand

deliveragainstourfiduciaryobligationinanefforttoachieve

superiorrisk-adjustedreturnsbyfosteringthegrowthofsmall-,

women-,minority-anddisabled-ownedmanagers.

StatusQuo

While the State of Illinois has one of the most

progressive, transparent and actively managed

emerging manager policies and programs in the

country, the various local pension plans maintain

disparate policies, targets and practices with

respect to this issue.

BestPractices

A number of public and private plans across the U.S.

have leading programs and practices regarding this

universe of investment managers. Treasurer Summers

has conducted individual interviews with over

25 leading plans across the country. These include, but

are not limited to, New York City, Texas TRS, State

of Maryland, DC Retirement Board and State of

Illinois TRS. A summary of these findings are below.

LONG TERM GOAL


FUTURE SNAPSHOT

Action

Action

Progress

Progress

Treasurer Summers’ team has created an emerging manager best practice database

which will be available and updated on a quarterly basis. Treasurer Summers will

hold annual reviews with leading contemporary plans and will also participate in

industry-leading discussions, conferences and research exercises. For best practice

sharing and manager identification, the Treasurer’s Office will partner with relevant

industry organizations including NASP, NAA, NAIC, AAIM and the Capital Access

Partnership and report findings and recommendations on an annual basis. Treasurer

Summers will also invite emerging managers to Chicago’s annual investment conference.

Treasurer Summers has begun to collect this data across all local funds will provide

updates in our upcoming quarterly and annual reports. This information will also

be provided to industry and trade associations to benefit their respective members.

MONITOR AND RECOMMEND LOCAL AND NATIONAL BEST PRACTICES

ACROSS LOCAL FUNDS.

MAINTAIN AND DISTRIBUTE ACCURATE INFORMATION REGARDING CURRENT

ALLOCATIONS TO MINORITY AND WOMEN-OWNED BUSINESS ENTERPRISE

AND EMERGING MANAGERS.

Treasurer Summers seeks to encourage meaningful

diversity across all local plans by engaging and

supporting emerging managers. Centralizingbest

practiceswillhelpprospectiveemergingmanagers

lookingtodobusinesswithlocalplans.

Plan AUM EM AUM Unique Best Practice EM Mandate Target % Dedicated Staff

DCRB $6.3 Billion $607 Million Requires consultants to have X 8%

EM finalists in every search.

Alternative is watchlist.

NY Common $181.7 Billion $400 Million Created alternatives, X 10% X

seeding program

Texas TRS $115.7 Billion $12 Billion Largest EM Program X 10% X

Dedicated EM Consultant

State of MD $42 Billion $11 Billion First State EM program X 25%

in the U.S.

NYC $164 Billion $13 Billion Large mandates, X 6-7% X

graduated manager program

IL TRS $44.5 Billion $7 Billion Collaborative investments, X 15% X

seeding program, graduated

manager program


INITIATIVE No.6

Work to ensure the long-term security of our pension funds.

Positionourlocalpensionfundstoemployabestpracticeapproachto

collaboration,ideageneration,informationsharing,resourceefficiency

andfinancialstewardshipinanefforttoprotectthelong-termfiduciary

interestsoftheplans,theirparticipantsandretirees.

StatusQuo

Traditionally, local plans have not collaborated around

issues such as sharing best practices, leveraging

common resources and efficiencies, benefit policies

and investment strategies. The funds have also

lacked transparency around their collective financial

status and performance. By pursuing more collabora-

tive efforts, there could be a significant impact on the

security of each individual plan.

BestPractices

Treasurer Summers’ team has surveyed multiple infor-

mation-sharing models from industry associations which

employ more developed practices, including those from

the National Council of Public Employee Retirement

Systems (NCPERS) and the National Association of State

Retirement Administrators (NASRA). In addition to

implementing these best practices, Treasurer Summers

plans to work with the investment managers who serve

our local pension funds to gain insight which can be ap-

plied to enhance all local investment strategies.

LONG TERM GOAL


FUTURE SNAPSHOT

Action

Action

Action

Progress

Progress

Progress

The Treasurer’s Office has examined the FY 2015 operating budgets for the four pension funds

where the Treasurer serves as a voting board member and identified opportunities in which

these funds would benefit from collaboration. By sharing information regarding their expenses,

each fund could identify where they are overspending in comparison with other local funds.

This information could then be used to negotiate lower contracts in the future allowing our

local pension funds to achieve significant savings in fees and other operating expenses.

Treasurer Summers has met with State Treasurer Frerichs and the chairs of the pension

committees in both houses of the Illinois General Assembly. These meetings helped

to identify shared challenges that currently affect our state, county, and city pension

funds and ways the funds could collaborate on a larger scale. In the coming months,

Treasurer Summers will continue these discussions as well as engage the Illinois Public

Pension Fund Association (IPPFA) and leaders of the state plans to explore tangible

opportunities to leverage some of the best practices and compelling financial

opportunities that we’ve analyzed over our first 90 days in office.

The first-of-its-kind clearinghouse among the 11 funds proposed in Initiative 4 will not

only allow them to easily share important information, but also serve as a catalyst for

increased collaboration between funds, especially regarding financial analysis. Once

established, this clearinghouse will prove that working together will benefit each fund

on daily basis but also when it comes to problem-solving on future issues.

IDENTIFY SHARED OPPORTUNITIES ACROSS PENSION BOARDS ON WHICH

THE TREASURER SERVES.

ENGAGE STATE OF ILLINOIS ELECTED AND LEGISLATIVE OFFICIALS IN AN OPEN

DIALOGUE ON THE FINANCIAL HEALTH OF LOCAL PENSION FUNDS.

PROVIDE INDEPENDENT FINANCIAL ANALYSIS AND REPORTING

ON PENSION REFORM ACTIVITIES.

TreasurerSummerswillcontinuetofostercoordination

betweenourlocalpensionplanstofindevery

sensibleopportunitytopreserveandprotecttheir

long-termviabilityandreducethecollectivemagnitude

ofourunfundedliabilities.Whilenoneofthese

solutionswilleliminatetheneedforsoundstructural

reformandappropriatecontributionstowardfunding

long-termobligations,every effort to promote

collaboration between pension funds places us one

step closer to solving this pervasive fiscal challenge.

Providing financial education and empowerment


FUTURE SNAPSHOT

INITIATIVE No.7

Expand financial education efforts to reach more youth and adults and empower our workers and retirees.

Increaseaccesstofinancialeducationandincreasethefinancialcapability

andempowermentofChicagoansbyprovidingeducation,trainingandre-

sourcestomoreadults,workers,andretirees.

StatusQuo

While we know that many valuable financial education

programs exist in Chicago, there has not been an effort

to assess the scope and impact of financial education

services in the city. Similarly, there has not been

an effort to bring together and coordinate financial

education programs so as to ensure all Chicagoans

have access to high-quality financial education.

BestPractices

To understand how the Treasurer’s office can make

financial education more accessible in Chicago,

Treasurer Summers reviewed several financial education

efforts in other cities and met with leading practitioners

in the financial empowerment field. The Treasurer’s

office has identified several models that can inform

our efforts to widely expand access to financial

education in Chicago:

1. SanFranciscoMoneySmartNetwork

2. NewYorkCity’sFinancialEmpowermentCenters

3. NewYorkCity’sFinancialEducationNetworkDirectory

Action

Action

Progress

Progress

Treasurer Summers’ financial education team has conducted an inventory of over 135 financial

education providers in Chicago, collaborating with the Cities for Financial Empowerment

Fund and Chicago Public Schools to begin centralizing financial education services and

resources. The Treasurer has also solicited a wide variety of corporations, financial

institutions, non-profits, and city agencies.

Treasurer Summers convened city agencies to develop a plan to make financial education accessi-

ble to all Chicagoans. The working committee has met twice already, and includes leadership from

Mayor Emanuel’s Office, Chicago Public Schools, and the President’s Advisory Council for Finan-

cial Capability for Young Americans. On March 3rd, Treasurer Summers went to the White House

to formally present this group’s vision of Chicago’s comprehensive financial education strategy.

LEAD EFFORTS TO CONVENE SISTER AGENCIES AND NON-PROFITS TO

INVENTORY AND ASSESS EXISTING FINANCIAL EDUCATION PROGRAMS.

CREATE A COLLABORATIVE CITY-WIDE EFFORT, INCLUDING THE CIVIC

COMMUNITY AND LABOR UNIONS, TO DEVELOP AND IMPLEMENT STRATEGIES

FOCUSED ON EACH STAKEHOLDER GROUP.

LONG TERM GOAL


Treasurer Summers will continue to better coordinate

and centralize all financial empowerment providers,

funders, and volunteers in the city, so that all Chicago

youth, adults, working families, and retirees have

access to high-quality financial education. Treasurer

Summers’visionofprovidingmeaningfulfinancial

educationtoallChicagoanscanserveasa

modelthroughoutIllinoisandtheentirecountry.

Graphical Representation of Financial Education Network

Receives – coordinated priorities – system-wide transparency & performance – efficient service delivery / high ROI

Provides – $ resources – human capitol – best practices – curriculum

* Inclusive of both CPS and non-CPS educational institutions as well as City Colleges and of Chicago and other local universities

** Financial Planning will also include college financial aid and education around Illinois 529 plans

*** This also includes education around the pending implementation of the Illinois Secure Choice Act

STAKEHOLDER ENTITIES FINANCIAL EDUCATION NETWORK ISSUE AREAS

Non-profit Organizations Youth/Student Financial Edu.*

Government AgenciesAdult Financial Edu.

Financial Planning**

Philanthropic Organizations

Credit Building

Retirement Planning***Subject Matter Experts

(e.g. Academic)

Volunteers

Tax Assistance

Financial Product Fraud & Abuse

Regular Stakeholder Meetings

__

Online Information / Resource Finding Portal

__

$ Resource Solicitation __

Common Prioritization of Approved

(FEN)


INITIATIVE No.8

Provide residents with access to safe and responsible financial offerings.

Connectunder-orun-bankedresidentstoresponsiblefinancialservices

andimprovethequalityoflifeformoreChicagoansbydevelopingnew,

tailoredservices.

LONG TERM GOAL


FUTURE SNAPSHOT

Action

Action

Action

Progress

Progress

Progress

Realizing that most Chicagoans either have not heard of the Bank On program or are unclear

on its benefits, the Treasurer’s office has embarked on an effort to rebrand and establish

new marketing partnerships. To increase this program’s accessibility, Treasurer Summers has

already installed a new Bank Locator tool on the Bank On website making it easier to identify

affordable checking accounts. In addition, recognizing that many Chicagoans use prepaid cards

in lieu of checking accounts, Treasurer Summers is working with Bank On Chicago members

to establish criteria for safe and affordable prepaid cards, which will make it easier for

Chicagoans to identify non-predatory products.

Treasurer Summers has wasted no time in adding new members to the Bank On network.

Since taking office, two new community banks, North Side Community Federal Credit

Union and First Midwest Bank, and one new community organization, the Spanish Coali-

tion for Housing, have joined Bank On Chicago. The Treasurer’s office is currently in talks

with two more community banks who are also considering joining the Bank On network

and has started identifying many more community partners to make sure that information

about Bank On Chicago is made available at all critical social service delivery points.

At the quarterly Bank On Chicago Meeting in January, Treasurer Summers’ financial

education team presented a proposal and got consensus from Bank On Chicago

members to issue a new criteria for safe and affordable checking accounts and prepaid

cards. Treasurer Summers is also working with One Summer Chicago, the city’s summer

youth employment program, to connect more youth with safe and affordable check-

ing accounts and encourage them to enroll in direct deposit as a means of avoiding

check-cashing fees.

AUGMENT THE EXISTING BANK ON CHICAGO PROGRAM.

EXPANDING THE EXISTING BANK ON CHICAGO NETWORK.

REVIEW NEW PRODUCT OFFERINGS IN PARTNERSHIP WITH COMMERCIAL BANKS,

EMPLOYERS, ADVOCACY GROUPS, AND CITY AGENCIES.

Althoughaugmentingandexpandingtheexisting

BankOnChicagoprogramaregoodfirststeps,

TreasurerSummers’visionfortheBankOnnetwork

doesnotstopthere.Treasurer Summers hopes

that in the near future, every interaction any Chicagoan

has with the City of Chicago, its sister agencies,

or relevant state agencies provides them with the

opportunity to sign up for responsible financial services.

Tomakethisgoalareality,TreasurerSummersand

hisfinancialservicesteamhavealreadyhostedseveral

preliminarydiscussionswithanumberofpotential

partneragenciesregardingincreasedaccesstoBank

Onservices,andwillcontinuethisdialoguetoforge

newpartnerships.

StatusQuo

Data suggests that 25 percent of Chicagoans have a

bank account but still use check cashing or payday

loans, meaning that they overpay to access their own

money. Additionally 16 percent of Chicago families

do not have a savings or bank account at all—a level that

is twice the national rate. Treasurer Summers’ financial

education team has conducted a gap analysis of the

existing Bank On Chicago program and identified

that lacking product relevancy has led to low levels

of participation from major financial institutions and

smaller community banks.

BestPractices

In addition to evaluating the weaknesses of the current

Bank On Chicago program, the Treasurer’s financial

services team evaluated the model practices outlined

by the Corporation for Enterprise Development (CFED)

and consulted with the Office of San Francisco City

Treasurer José Cisneros, who leads the nation’s most

successful Bank On program.

Enhancing city and sister agency services


INITIATIVE No.9

Rationalize banking and transaction fees.

Savetaxpayerdollarsbyrenegotiatingbankingandotherfinancialservices

contractsandeliminatingunnecessarycosts.Awell-managedbanking

relationshipbenefitseveryoneinvolved—thegovernment,thebank,and

mostimportantly,thetaxpayersandconstituents.

StatusQuo

A treasury management review of all banking

relationships has not been conducted in over

a decade. Several disparate accounts, transactions

and fees exist across the City of Chicago’s operations.

A preliminary review of banking relationships within

the Treasurer’s office has already led to a savings of

$100,000, which enables $30,000,000 to be rede-

ployed into return-bearing securities.

BestPractices

Treasurer Summers and his staff have performed an

extensive national review of best practices for stream-

lined banking relationships and transaction fee reduction.

Based on discussions and review of information from

GFOA and other city treasurers across the US,

we have determined the following best practices:

• RegularRequestforProposals(RFP)orbankingreview

scheduleinplace(e.g.,everyfiveyears).

• Bankmonitoringsysteminplaceforpricing,financial

condition,andcollateralization.

• Regularin-personmeetingswiththebank’srelationship

manager(e.g.,quarterly).

• Ongoingdisseminationofnewproductinformationfrombank.

LONG TERM GOAL


FUTURE SNAPSHOT

Our best practice review of approaches to conducting this type of analysis suggests that

there must be a refreshed banking services program including:

• AnunderlyingbankingservicesRFP

• Bankingservicesproposal

• Bankcontract

Based on the national best practice review performed for this initiative, we’ve determined the steps

necessary for a productive revision of banking services relationships and RFP. They are as follows:

• Hostavendorconference.

• Useareasonabletimeframeforformulatingresponses.

• Useevaluationcriteriathatlookatlineitemcosts,butalsovaluesthebenefitsofnewtechnology.

• Requireservicelevelagreements.

• Requireabankingtransitionschedule.

• Clearlydefinetheselectionprocessbeforethebidsareopened.

• Giveeveryoneareasonableopt-out.

• Requireongoingandperiodicrelationshipreviews.Reviewswillbeamaximumintervalof

oneyearandwillbeaveryformalprocess.

Successfully rationalizing banking relationships will require the review of all relationships

that currently exist across the system. Prior to the execution of the RFP, the Treasurer’s

office will meet with the City Comptroller and all relevant counterparts at various depart-

ments and sister agencies.

ISSUE A BANKING SERVICES RFP.

ENGAGE CITY DEPARTMENTS AND SISTER AGENCIES TO ASSESS

VARIOUS FINANCIAL SERVICES RELATIONSHIPS.

CONDUCT AN ANALYSIS OF CURRENT BANKING AND TRANSACTION FEES

AND CONTRACTS.

Effectively managing banking relationships can

save a government time, money, and unwanted

surprises, but it requires an investment of time

and effort on the front-end and ongoing oversight.

Successfulexecutionofthisinitiativecanleadto

$500,000-$1,000,000ayearinfeesavingsandan

increment$50+millionincapitalthatcanberede-

ployedintointerest-bearingsecurities.

Action

Action

Action

Progress

Progress

Progress


FUTURE SNAPSHOT

INITIATIVE No.10

Explore opportunities to provide financial services to local governments and agencies.

Reducecostsbyleveragingcurrentcapabilities(e.g.trading,banking,

advisory)toeliminateduplicationandevaluatenewopportunities

toaccesseconomiesofscale.

StatusQuoandBestPractices

Today, Treasurer Summers’ investment team manages

the day-to-day operations of the Chicago Park

District’s investment portfolio currently valued at over

$135 million. Each year, this partnership saves the

Park District over $250,000 in management fees,

personnel, and other costs. When compared to their

old investment strategy earns the Park District at

least an additional $250,000 in returns on their

investments annually. Most importantly, this agreement

enables both parties to focus all their assets and

attention directly on fulfilling their core missions.

Action

Action

Progress

Progress

Building upon the success of the current shared services relationship with the Park District,

Treasurer Summers has launched the City Treasurer’s Office (CTO) Advantage program to

propose similar partnerships with other local government agencies. By using the CTO

Advantage program and leaving the day-to-day management of their portfolios to the Treasurer’s

investment management team, partner agencies would be able to increase the returns of

their investments while also saving on management fees, personnel, and other benefits

of CTO-Advantage are listed below:

Treasurer Summers will soon present

proposals for CTO Advantage shared

services partnerships to multiple City and

sister agencies for their consideration.

Treasurer Summers and his staff have

already held productive conversations

with many agencies to review their

investment guidelines and current asset

allocation strategies in order to recom-

mend potential partnerships that would

address their specific timetables and

cash flow needs.

CONVENE CITY, SISTER AGENCY, AND OTHER LOCAL GOVERNMENT FINANCIAL

OFFICIALS TO DISCUSS CAPABILITIES AND OPPORTUNITIES TO COLLABORATE.

ISSUE RECOMMENDATIONS ON COLLABORATIVE OPPORTUNITIES.

LONG TERM GOAL


Movingforward,TreasurerSummershopestocontinue

consultingwithallsisteragenciesregardingtheir

currentinvestmentguidelinesandassetallocation

strategyto identify opportunities where the CTO

Advantage program can make an immediate impact,

by utilizing our portfolio manager’s expertise and

economy of scale to provide a cost effective invest-

ment management platform. Overthecoming

months,TreasurerSummerswillcontinuetoseek

outanyopportunitytobuilduponandreplicatethe

provensuccessofsharedservicespartnershipswith

newCTOAdvantagepartners.

Chicago Park District Net Earnings FY2014

Benefits of CTO Advantage Proposals AnnualNetEarnings

$250,000

$200,000

$150,000

$100,000

$50,000

0

0.25%

0.20%

0.15%

0.10%

0.05%

0.00%

BEFORE SHARED

SERVICES

CURRENT SCENARIO

PREDICTED WITH

3RD PARTY MANAGER

CTO ADVANTAGE SCENARIO 1

AFTER CTO

SHARED SERVICES

CTO ADVANTAGE SCENARIO 2

INVESTMENT POLICY CONSULTATION AND REVIEW MUNICIPAL DEPOSITORY BANKS

LEVERAGED CUSTODY RELATIONSHIP FIXED-INCOME INVESTMENTS

LEVERAGED MONEY MARKET PORTAL SAVINGS ON INVESTMENT FEES


INITIATIVE No.11

Enhance Chicago’s attractiveness to small businesses.

TheCityTreasurer’sOfficeisfocusedonacceleratingjobcreationby

helpingreducethechallengestostartorexpandabusinessinChicago.

StatusQuo

Currently, the City of Chicago, small business centers,

neighborhood chambers and local small business

advocacy groups (public and private) provide a wide-

range of support services to small business owners.

Treasurer Summers examined these various resources

and prioritized the current challenges and opportunities

for value creation for small business owners.

BestPractices

Treasurer Summers’ staff reviewed the best practices

as outlined by the National League of Cities, U.S.

Chamber of Commerce, U.S. Small Business Association,

and the U.S. Conference of Mayors as well as public-

private partnerships in New York City, Cleveland,

Boston and Atlanta to understand the most effective

ways to streamline support services for small businesses.

These best practices include:

• Market Understanding: Developappropriatelyalignedresourcesfor

businessesfaceateachstageoftheirdevelopment.

• Value Proposition: Provideleadership,advocacy,opencommunication,

andstreamlinedregulationforamorevibrantsmallbusinessenvironment.

• External Partnerships: Workwithexternalorganizationsthathave

technicalexpertise,marketing,businessplanningandresources.

LONG TERM GOAL


FUTURE SNAPSHOT

Action

Action

Progress

Progress

This inventory indicated that there are significant gaps at the neighborhoodlevelfor

support services and capacity building for small businesses such as tax planning,

marketing, financial management, legal, technological development, and second-stage

funding to stimulate business growth.

Treasurer Summers has developed the “4 Cs for Small Business” identifying the four major

areas – capital, capacity, cost, and clients – where the City Treasurer’s office can help small

businesses grow.

Capital: ByleveragingtheCity’srelationshipswithcommercialbanks,outsideinvestorsandother

financialpartnerstoincreasetheirlendingcapacitytosmallbusinessaswellasincreaseaccess

tocapitalwithinChicago’sneighborhoodsbysupportingthegrowthoftheCapitalAccessCenters

sponsoredbyMayorEmanuelandTreasurerSummers.

Capacity: ContinuetoworkwithexistingcapacitybuildingeffortsinChicago’sentrepreneurialarena

inordertohelpsustainandgrowsmallbusinesses.Theseeffortscanbeenhancedbyproviding

low-costorfreebusinessconsulting,analysisandworkproductthroughpartnershipswithlocal

educationalinstitutionsandMBAprograms,neighborhoodinnovationcenterslikeBLUE1647,local

non-profitslikeSunshineEnterprises,aswellasnationalorganizationslikeHourlyNerdandStartup.com.

Cost: ByleveragingthecollectivepurchasingpoweroftheCityofChicagoandotherlocalgovernments

tohelpreducethecostofbuyinggoodsandservicesforsmallbusinesses.Similareffortssuchas

WorldBusinessChicago’s(WBC)ChicagoAnchorsforaStrongEconomy(CASE)initiativehavereduced

thecostofdoingbusinessandhaveallowforincreasedfocusonhowtogrowtheirbusinessinChicago.

Client: BysupportingnewpartnershipssuchasIllinoisScienceTechnologyCoalition(ISTC)-Corporate

StartupChallengeandtheSupplyChainInnovationNetworkChicago(SINC)toincreasethe

opportunitiesforsmall-mid-sizedbusinessestoworkwithlargercorporationstoaddresstheir

currentneedswhileincreasingsmallbusinesscapacity.

CONDUCT A COMPREHENSIVE INVENTORY OF ALL EXISTING SUPPORT SERVICES

THAT CURRENTLY EXIST TO HELP SMALL BUSINESSES IN CHICAGO.

PROVIDE RECOMMENDATIONS AND DEDICATED RESOURCES TO LEVERAGE CITY

OF CHICAGO SIZE, SCALE AND RELATIONSHIPS TO LOWER TOTAL COST

OF DOING BUSINESS FOR ENTREPRENEURS.

TheCityofChicagohasstartedtomakesignificant

stridesinprovidingsupportservicesfornewandex-

istingentrepreneursthroughitsneighborhoodsmall

businesscentersandthecapitalaccesscenters.How-

ever,thereisstillapressingneedforeasieraccessto

capitalinmanyneighborhoods.Treasurer Summers

will work to streamline existing support services and

leverage their collective capacity through the 4 C’s

framework to make Chicago the best city in the country

for entrepreneurs and small business creation.

CAPITAL

CAPACITY

COST

CLIENT


INITIATIVE No.12

Lower the cost of doing business with the City through vendor financing programs.

Identifyopportunitiestofinancesupplierpayments,reducingvendor

coststypicallypassedontotheCity.

StatusQuo

We’ve heard from several of the city’s vendors that

they would stand to benefit if we found ways to

leverage the City’s balance sheet and purchasing

power to help reduce the cost of capital and

improve payment terms for those who seek to do

business with the City. While there are already

effective programs in place that address vendor

capacity and the time to payment has decreased

significantly under Mayor Emanuel’s leadership, there

is still an opportunity to further improve our ability

to be good partners to the vendor community.

LONG TERM GOAL


FUTURE SNAPSHOT

Action

Action

Progress

Progress

Treasurer Summers has begun to review various options with the City of Chicago Department

of Procurement Services, Department of Aviation, Public Building Commission and Cook

County. In addition, we have begun to test various financing options with the City’s large

financial partners, who have been receptive in reviewing solutions. Treasurer Summer’s office

is convening a working group in Q2 with each procurement official as well as various private

sector procurement professionals for their further perspective on best practices. The

charge for this working group will be to finalize a set of products available for vendors in

each of the following areas:

• Commodities • Construction • CapitalEquipment

• ProfessionalServices • Short-termcontractors

Now that a confirmed preliminary validation of the opportunity amongst departments, vendors

and financing sources has been completed, we must further refine the opportunity and struc-

turing considerations. Several vendor financing models have arisen as examples to consider:

• Directpay/vendorfinancing–reducestransactiontime/costs

• Directlending–reducescostofcapital

• Streamlinedunderwriting–reducestransactiontime/costs

• Creditenhancement–reducescostofcapital

Treasurer Summers’ team has also identified the following steps in order to begin

structuring opportunity:

• DeterminetotalspendfromaggregatecontractsthatareSMB’sandcanberenegotiated

• Estimatepotentialpricereductionandsavings

• Identifykeycontractstoprioritize

• Assesslegalresourcesneededtoexecutenewstructuringandcontractrenegotiation

• Determineprocessfornon-performance

• SolicitfinancingoptionsthroughRFI/RFP

WORK WITH CITY AND SISTER AGENCY PROCUREMENT TEAMS

TO VALIDATE OPPORTUNITY.

EVALUATE FINANCING MODELS, SIZE OF OPPORTUNITY, SAVINGS POTENTIAL,

LEGAL REQUIREMENTS AND LIABILITY LIMITATIONS.

Wehaveanopportunitytoleveragethebalancesheet

oftheCityofChicagotohelpreducethecostfor

smallbusinesseswhoprovideservicestocitygovernment

andChicagoresidents.This opportunity will result in

the ability to procure goods at a cheaper price, with

more competition and potentially a more timely and

effective service delivery model for Chicago residents.


INITIATIVE No.13

Foster development of innovative City programs that enhance services and save tax dollars.

Encourageinnovationthatimprovesqualityoflifeandsavestaxpayer

dollarsbyenablingprojectswithapositivereturnoninvestment.

LONG TERM GOAL


FUTURE SNAPSHOT

Action

Action

Progress

Progress

These discussions between the Treasurer’s office and a host of partner organizations

including WorldBusinessChicago,SmartChicagoCollaborative,1871,IllinoisScience

andTechnologyCoalition,ChicagoInnovationAwards,ChicagoInnovationExchange

andtheCenterforFinancialServicesInnovationhave highlighted Treasurer Summers’

committment to leverage new opportunities to address and create innovative

development for city government. These innovative models and technologies will help

provide more efficient and transparent service offerings for small businesses, entrepreneurs,

non-profits and residents throughout all of Chicago and for current and potential

investors and partners around the world.

As Chicago’s leading financial steward, Treasurer Summers’ primary focus is on how

to harness these innovative practices to deliver the best and most transparent

investment performance possible. Over the last 90 days, we have engaged with a

number of consultants, technology and innovation experts and financial institutions to

determine how best to deliver against this charge. By the end of 2015, we plan to

initiate a process whereby new financial and investment platforms and other innovative

social media applications will be able to compete for the ability to partner with the

Treasurer’s office to deliver state-of-the art investment and economic analysis not only

to our portfolio managers, but to all interested parties across the city.

BEGIN DISCUSSIONS WITH CITY AGENCIES, NON-PROFITS AND SERVICE PROVIDERS

TO UNDERSTAND OPPORTUNITY AREAS FOR POTENTIAL PARTNERSHIPS.

EVALUATE MODELS TO CREATE AND SUPPORT VARIOUS INVESTMENT VEHICLES.

TreasurerSummerswillremainfocusedonestablishing

andcreatinginnovativeideaswithnewpublic-

privatepartnersworkingtogether.These innovative

models will help city services and programs be more

efficient and will result in significant savings and

unprecedented transparency for Chicago residents,

businesses and taxpayers. Public-privatepartnerships

willhelpsupportincreaseinnovationforCityagencies

creatingmoreresourcesavailableforinvestmentin

educationandeconomicdevelopment.

StatusQuo

To determine the landscape of innovation and devel-

opment, the Treasurer’s office has engaged several

public and private partners within the first 90 days

of being in office to gain a better understanding of

current efforts from across the City. These efforts

span a wide-range of industry, function, and purpose,

but fundamentally can be leveraged to help and

improve current programs and services for taxpayers

of Chicago.

BestPractices

In an effort to help further foster the burgeoning civic

innovation ecosystem in Chicago, Treasurer Summers

has engaged in a national review of other exemplary

efforts that can be leveraged as we build in Chicago.

To that end, this office has interviewed and received

common best practices from the likes of Fuse Corps,

Code for America, CityCamp and the Silicon Valley

Talent Partnership.

Committing to financial accountability and transparency


FUTURE SNAPSHOT

INITIATIVE No.14

Publicly report and review key performance metrics on a quarterly basis.

EstablishaccountabilitybytrackingtheTreasurer’sperformanceandcreate

opportunitiestocollectfeedback.

StatusQuo

In the past, the Treasurer’s office has produced one

publically available financial report each year. This

annual report has historically only contained a simple

summary of City’s investment portfolios asset

allocation strategy and brief overview of the

performance over those investments over the past

year. As an investor and banker, Treasurer Summers

believes that this current lack of transparency is

unacceptable. All Chicagoans deserve to know

more about how their tax dollars are invested, and

this information should be available to the public

on a more regular basis.

BestPractices

As the primary investment manager for the City of

Chicago, Treasurer Summers sees no reason why

his office should be allowed to be less accountable

than any other investment management firm is

to their own investors. Therefore, when identifying

best practices for future financial reports the

Treasurer’s staff focused on quarterly and annual

reports published by some of the nation’s largest

investment managers including:

1. FidelityInvestments 3.J.P.MorganAssetManagement

2. BlackRock 4.TheVanguardGroup

Action

Action

Progress

Progress

On April 15th, two weeks after the conclusion the 1st quarter of this fiscal year, a scorecard

will be posted on the Treasurer’s website tracking our progress on each of the initiatives

laid out in this report over the past three months. Each quarter, this scorecard will be updated

with the progress we have achieved and outline concrete next steps our office plans on

pursuing in the next quarter.

Treasurer Summers will begin to publish a financial report tracking the performance of

the City’s investment portfolio on a quarterly basis. The first quarterly report will be

released on April 15th and all subsequent reports will be scheduled for release two

weeks after the conclusion each quarter. In order to get direct feedback from Chicago’s

taxpayers on his performance as their investor, Treasurer Summers will also host a

quarterly “earnings call” which will follow the same schedule.

DEVELOP AND PUBLISH A SCORECARD ON THE TREASURER’S WEBSITE

CONTAINING KEY METRICS AND GOALS.

SCHEDULE THE RELEASE OF A QUARTERLY REPORT AND “EARNINGS CALL”

WHERE RESIDENTS CAN PROVIDE FEEDBACK AND ASK QUESTIONS.

LONG TERM GOAL


Treasurer Summers wants you to hold him accountable,

and therefore is committed to providing the public

with the information needed to track our successes and

opportunities for future improvement. Movingforward,

TreasurerSummershopestofindnewandinnovative

waystocontinuetoincreasepublicinteractionwith

theTreasurer’sofficesothatwecanreceivemore

feedbackdirectlyfromtheresidentsofChicago.


FUTURE SNAPSHOT

INITIATIVE No.15

Provide clear, accessible, and timely information on the City’s financial health.

Helpresidentsunderstandreal-timethehealthofthelocaleconomyandprovide

analysisandreportingoncriticalpolicyissuesanddecisions.

StatusQuo

Currently, all published materials related to our City’s

financial health are scattered across many different

locations making it very difficult for Chicago resi-

dents to get an accurate and comprehensive picture

of the health of our local economy. While a plethora

of knowledge and information exists and is published

on a regular basis, it is not synthesized into a form

that makes it easy for public consumption.

BestPractices

Two comprehensive and easily comprehendible reports

that evaluating a region’s overall economic health have

been compiled by the United States Department of the

Treasury and the office of North Carolina State Treasurer.

These reports do not contain just a quick snapshot

of a certain municipality’s investment portfolio or a few

quick examples of how their local pension funds are

performing. Instead they take all of this information

and synthesize it into a cohesive picture of how the

region’s economy looks overall. This type of transparent

financial reporting that these reports have captured

is exactly what Treasurer Summers hopes to recreate

here in Chicago.

Action

Action

Progress

Progress

Treasurer Summers’ team has started compiling all-inclusive list of all information regard-

ing Chicago’s financial health that is currently accessible to the public. Using the U.S.

Treasury Department and the state of North Carolina as an example, Treasurer Summers

hopes to consolidate all of this information into one resource that provides Chicagoans

with easily accessible and complete picture of the City’s financial health on a quarterly

basis. Treasurer Summers plans to reach out to local financial institutions, academics, and

community partners to determine the best model to display a comprehensive report on

Chicago’s financial state in a way that will benefit all of Chicago’s residents.

The Treasurer’s staff is currently working to find the best ways to present all of this

information to ensure that it is easy for all Chicagoans to comprehend. Building off of

initial guidance from the OpenGov Foundation, Treasurer Summers and his staff have

accessed the limitations of City’s current financial reporting systems and plan to explore

innovative ways to share information with the taxpayers of Chicago.

MEET WITH CITY FINANCE TEAM TO DETERMINE PROJECT SCOPE.

BEGIN ASSESSMENT OF TECHNICAL, PROCESS, AND RULE CHANGES REQUIRED

FOR IMPLEMENTATION OF A NEW REPORTING SYSTEM.

LONG TERM GOAL


Tothisend,TreasurerSummersplanstocontinue

workingalongsidetheCity’sfinanceteamtodevelopa

systemthatallowsforeasierandmoreregularaccess

toinformationregardingtheCity’sfinancialhealththat

isalreadyrequiredtobeprovidedtothepublicunder

theFreedomofInformationAct.Chicagoans deserve to

have a better understanding of the health of their local

economy, and the ability to provide a clear picture of

Chicago’s financial prospects will enable us to attract in-

creased potential investment in our city’s neighborhoods.


FUTURE SNAPSHOT

INITIATIVE No.16

Comprehensive community planning for economic growth and long-term neighborhood vitality.

Toprovideneighborhoodswithcomprehensivecommunityplansincluding

accesstocapital,privatesectorinvestmentandadirectconnectionto

broaderlocalandregionaleconomicplanningefforts.

StatusQuo

Today, many of Chicago’s 77 neighborhoods have

undergone community-planning exercises that seek to

strengthen the communities and develop a plan for

growth. The plans help to identify challenges, oppor-

tunities and solutions but often lack an answer for the

persistent issues of capital access, inclusion of private

sector partners, coordination of local government in-

vestment, and relationship to larger strategic planning

efforts for our local economy. The disconnect between

community needs and the provision and coordination

of capital investment has limited the level of imple-

mentation success for a number of planning exercises.

BestPractices

Consistent with the Chicago Neighborhoods Now initia-

tive, The Chicago Community Trust, The United Way,

LISC, CMAP, and World Business Chicago have devel-

oped successful templates. Outside of Chicago’s city

limits and around the country, there are other examples

that we can learn from as we seek to reinvest in our

communities and establish them as neighborhoods of

choice. One such example is the Fund for our Eco-

nomic Future in Northeast Ohio (Cleveland) which has

convened an unprecedented collection of local govern-

ments leaders, education institutions, businesses and an

active citizenry working in concert to address their

well-entrenched economic difficulties.

Action

Action

Progress

Progress

Seeing both a need and a tremendous opportunity for comprehensive economic plan-

ning in the Greater Chatham Area, Treasurer Summers initiated this work by working

with Congressman Rush, Alderman Harris and Alderman Sawyer as well as host of com-

munity leaders, corporations, consultants, World Business Chicago, the State of Illinois,

the Cook County Board President’s office and the Mayor’s office to form the Greater

Chatman Initiative.

This Initiative will:

• ConnectandaligntheresidentsandbusinessesofGreaterChathamwiththeChicago

region’snext-economygrowthopportunities;

• RevitalizeandupgradeGreaterChatham’shousing,retail,supportservicesand

othercommunityamenities;

• Createanext-economycivicinfrastructurethatconnectscommunityresidentsand

businesseswithregionalstakeholders;and

• Establishmodel,replicablecollaborationandcoordinationacrossorganizations

andprogramareas.

Treasurer Summers will provide 5 communities with $10,000 seed grants that will be

matched and/or exceeded by foundations such as The Chicago Community Trust to

support comprehensive neighborhood planning. Working alongside Mayor Emanuel’s office,

local chambers, community think tanks, and delegate agencies, the Treasurer’s office

will implement a competitive community selection process to determine 5 neighborhoods

selected.Treasurer Summers will dedicate resources from his staff to work side-by-side

with each community, their subject matter experts, their leaders and their residents to help

ensure that the resulting plan will be fully supported by the City of Chicago as well as

private industry, lenders and other capital providers.

HELP ESTABLISH THE GREATER CHATHAM INITIATIVE (GCI) AS A POTENTIAL

MODEL FOR COMPREHENSIVE NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING.

ESTABLISH A $50,000 NEIGHBORHOOD PLANNING SEED GRANT FUND

WITH THE CHICAGO COMMUNITY TRUST.LONG TERM GOAL


The comprehensive community planning initiative is

a true investment in human capital. Investment in Our

Chicago, in Our Neighborhoods, and will result in

inclusive economic growth for the City of Chicago.

Theplanswillencouragetransparencyintransportation,

utilities,landuse,recreation,businessdevelopment,

education,andhousing.Eachofthe77neighborhoods

hasthepowertodefinetheirgoalsasaspiration

throughtheircomprehensivecommunityplanand

theTreasurersofficewillserveasanadvocate.

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FUTURE PROPOSALS FOR CONSIDERATION CONCLUSION

Ingoingtoeachofthe77communities,TreasurerSummerswasinspired

bythegreatideasandproposalshereceivedeachneighborhoods’

leaders.Whilethe16initiativesoutlinedinthisplanproposeanextensive

roadmapforTreasurerSummersasheentershisfirstfullterm,itis

bynomeansacompleteandcomprehensivelist.Futureproposalsfor

considerationthatTreasurerSummershasheardfromcommunity

leadersandotherstakeholdersareincludedinthislistbelow.

Address long-term vacancies of commercial storefront

retail and investor-owned multifamily residential properties

• Establishanincentiveforpropertyownerstorentand

maintaintheirpropertiestosolvethelong-termvacancies

andsupportneighborhoodeconomicdevelopment

Invest in affordable housing

• Conductnationalresearchanddevelopplantoinvestin

moreaffordablehousingwhileworkingwithcommuni-

tiestopreservethefabricofourneighborhoods

Find financing and working capital solutions for

non-profit organization (NPO) grantees

• CreateinnovativefinancialtoolsforNPOstomanage

growth,buildandrenovatefacilities,managetiming

ofreceivablesfromgovernmentgrantsorcapital

campaigns,andbeflexibleandreadytoworkthrough

issuesforthebettermentofthecommunity.

Leverage the existing expertise of the Treasurer’s office

to provide financial advisory services, government

agencies, neighboring municipalities and NPOs

• Exploreopportunitiestobeanadvisortothecity,its

sisteragencies,andneighboringmunicipalities.

Repurpose and potentially sell city assets, equipment,

and building inventory

• Workwithnonprofitsandcommunityorganizationson

aplantodevelopanduseassetstobetterservethe

community

Develop Sister Neighborhood Program

• CreateaforumforChicago’sneighborhoodstoshare

bestpractices,leverageexpertise,anddevelopa

greatersenseofcommunityacrosstheentirecity.

Build Innovation Houses

• Leverageunderutilizedorvacantneighborhoodassets

tocreatenewcommunity-basedcentersofinnovation.

Create Mutual of Chicago

• Allowindividualstoinvesttheirowncapitalinwaysthat

benefittheirowncommunities.

Evaluate new revenue sources

• Evaluatethestreamofcashinflowsavailableforinvest-

mentbyreviewingtheirefficiency,pricingstructureand

collectionefforts.

LONG TERM GOAL

PROPOSALS

In his first 90 days as Chicago’s City Treasurer, Kurt Summers began working

to transform the Treasurer’s Office to better serve all residents in every

corner of the city. The critical first step to this transformation began in our

communities. By listening to residents, business owners and community

organizations we gained invaluable insight to what our city needs from its

banker, investor and financial advocate.

As this important work moves forward, the Treasurer asks all stakeholders to

continue having a seat at the table by contributing ideas and holding the

office accountable. By working together, the innovations from this office, driven

by the voices from Chicago’s 77 communities, will allow us to do more good for

more people.

For more information on how to partner with Treasurer Summers and to

sign up for the Office newsletter, visit chicagocitytreasurer.com.

Find all follow-up documents, reports and materials at

chicagocitytreasurer.com/impact

For the latest news from the Treasurer’s Office,

visit: chicagocitytreasurer.com/headlines-news-photos

Follow Kurt on Twitter @kurtasummers

Friend Kurt on Facebook www.facebook.com/summerschicago

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OfficeoftheCityTreasurer

CityofChicago

City Treasurer Kurt A. Summers Jr.

121 North LaSalle Street

City Hall, Room 106

Chicago, Illinois 60602

90-DAY ACTION PLAN IMPACT REPORT · Grant Money for Lincoln Park Zoo 1 Streamline Social Security 1 Job Creation 1 Strengthen Relationship between 1 Hospitality and Retail Initiative

Documents