Authority_October_2020

October 2020 - The Authority 35 PLGIT led the way by showing how local governments could take control of their finances, pooling funds from multiple municipalities and investing them to meet the specific requirements and needs of members. Unlike other institutions, PLGIT is owned and operated by its members. Every local government or school that invests in PLGIT owns a piece of the Trust. But it goes much further than that: PLGIT members sit on the board, set the investment objectives and make decisions about new products and services. Committed to principles – and progress Through the guidance of our board and sponsoring associations, including The PAMunicipal League, PLGIT discovered several crucial elements to success – elements that have served as our foundation since 1981. First, stay true to a few bedrock prin- ciples: seek safety in all investments, provide excellent service, and always remember that our members actually own and operate the Trust. Second, continue to evolve to keep pace with members’ needs. In fact, a look at PLGIT’s history shows that the Trust has focused on continuous evolution and growth. During the 1980s, we added different investment accounts that give mem- bers choices for greater flexibility and the ability to pursue higher yields. In 1989, PLGIT endorsed the first of three bond pools organized by the Emmaus General Authority, enabling municipalities and schools that need- ed money to borrow funds, to give more local governments the ability to borrow at a variable interest rate, and giving smaller borrowers an opportu- nity to cut their costs of issuance. PLGIT stayed ahead of its investors’ needs and also added services and pro- grams for the digital era: For example, PLGIT procurement cards, or P-Cards, and its Easy Online Network (EON), a Web-based transaction and reporting system. PLGIT also kept pace with change by adding two new investment prod- ucts in the 2000’s: PLGIT/I-Class, an investment option that offered better yields by recognizing the cost savings of transacting through the Internet, and the PLGIT-CD Purchase program, which provides investors access to FDIC-insured certificates of deposit from more than 400 financial institutions across the country, as of 5/31/2020. Following the signing of Act 10 of 2016, which expanded and modern- ized available investments for Penn- sylvania local governments and school districts, PLGIT helped local govern- ments find opportunities in the chang- ing investment landscape by creating PLGIT/PRIME and broadening the investments permitted through PLGIT/ TERM. Unlike other institutions, PLGIT is owned and operated by its members. PLGIT at 40 The PLGIT of today is dramatically different from the PLGIT of 1981. From the very beginning, Pennsyl- vania’s municipalities and schools have embraced PLGIT – its unique structure, its tailored programs, and its focus on client service. That has driven dramatic growth of our mem- bership, which has increased from a starting point of 2, to 250 at the end of 1981, to 3,077 municipalities, author- ities, schools, and other types of local agencies in the Commonwealth as of March 31, 2020. Other numbers have grown, too. PLGIT now manages $6.2 billion in assets (as of March 31, 2020), and since the inception of the Trust through December 2019, PLGIT in- vestors have collectively earned more than $2.6 billion through their invest- ment in PLGIT programs 1 . They have used the earnings to make capital im- provements, pay salaries, and reduce the tax burden on their citizens. PLGIT has also built on its P-Card and EON programs to help governments operate as efficiently as possible.