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L istening T o O ur I nvestors How surveys keep PLGIT responsive and adaptable By Courtney Mulholland, Director, PFM Asset Management, a division of U.S. Bancorp Asset Management, Inc. Local Government Investment Pools (LGIPs) like PLGIT provide a valuable vehicle for public entities to collectively invest surplus funds in a way that promotes safety, liquidity, and competitive returns. But simply offering a pool is not enough. For PLGIT to remain effective, responsive, and trusted, we must continually evolve—and one of the most direct and powerful tools for us to do this is by conducting periodic surveys of you - our investors. Here are a handful of examples of why our survey – and your day-to- day feedback – helps us improve our services and operational framework: Reinforcing Accountability and Transparency PLGIT manages public funds, and as such, we operate under heightened expectations for transparency and fiduciary responsibility. Surveys provide a formal mechanism for you to voice your concerns, ask questions, and rate aspects of our services. When we request investor feedback and show how we plan to respond, it strengthens trust between PLGIT and the people we serve. A survey-driven approach complements other reporting best practices. For example, the Government Finance Officers Association (GFOA) recommends that state and local government investment programs determine the market value of all securities in the portfolio at least quarterly and disclose those values to oversight bodies 1 . By layering in investor feedback, we improve our alignment with your expectations. Aligning Services with Evolving Needs Investor priorities shift over time. In certain interest rate environments, investors may emphasize yield; in more volatile periods, safety and liquidity. A survey allows an LGIP to track changes in these priorities and fine-tune its strategies accordingly. Our conversion from the Easy Online Network (EON) to Connect a few years ago was largely shaped by what upgrades our investors had been asking for in terms of a digital access to account information. Over time, this responsiveness contributes to higher retention, deeper participation, and stronger peer referrals—especially in a public finance context where reputation matters. Proactive Detection of Risks and Weaknesses Regular polling of investors can uncover small issues before they become larger ones. For example, several investors of an LGIP might subtly express dissatisfaction with customer service response times. Perhaps a different subset of respondents note that cash flows are becoming more unpredictable in their jurisdiction, requiring greater flexibility in withdrawals. By recognizing these issues early, a LGIP’s leadership can respond— reallocating resources to operations, adjusting policies, or re-engineering processes—rather than scrambling to respond after complaints from investors increase, or investors begin to leave the pool. In this way, surveys act as an early warning system, bridging the gap between staff and investors. Supporting Strategic Planning and Innovation A regular survey of investors positions PLGIT to evolve more strategically. Over multiple survey cycles, trends 1 Market-to-Market Reporting for Public Investment Portfolios. GFOA. Continued on page 52.