Why ONE Investment for Prudent Investor Standard?

In 2020, six founding municipalities established the ONE Joint Investment Board (ONE JIB), and any Ontario municipality can become a participating member of the Board. It is designed for municipalities that wish to invest under the Prudent Investor Standard, but do not meet the requirements on their own, or are cautious about the work and cost of going it alone. ONE JIB offers a convenient, lower-cost way for municipalities to obtain access to the governance and expertise needed to invest under the Prudent Investor Standard.

ONE JIB acts as a Municipal Services Board for all participating municipalities, and it comprised of nine investment/finance experts, and 3 municipal treasurers. More information about the board members can found at the following link: ONE Joint Investment Board

ONE JIB is affiliated with ONE Investment, a not-for-profit corporation formed by CHUMS Financing Authority, which is wholly owned by the Municipal Finance Officers' Association of Ontario (MFOA) and Local Authority Services (LAS), the business services arm of the Association of Municipalities of Ontario (AMO). ONE Investment provides services to the ONE JIB, and acts as its agent.

ONE Investment offers a full package of support services to interested and participating municipalities:

  • Templates for core documents required for prudent investing, and assistance with tailoring these documents to each municipality's individual situation
  • Assistance in crafting a comprehensive investment policy that describes the municipality's investment objectives, risk tolerance and liquidity needs, and complies with the applicable legislation
  • Assistance to ONE JIB in developing an investment plan that aligns with each municipality's investment policy
  • Access to more than 30 investment fund options through ONE's external investment sub-manager 
    (PH&N Institutional - part of RBC Global Asset Management)
  • Reporting and monitoring that will track each municipality's investment performance and meet its reporting obligations under the Municipal Act - O. Reg 438/97
  • A competitive cost structure for ONE JIB. The costs of establishing the Joint Investment Board have already been incurred, and new participating municipalities are only responsible for their share of future ongoing costs
  • Ongoing advice, as required, to integrate the investment program with the capital budgeting process and asset management financing strategy