Please read the attached Guidelines before every Alma board and committee meeting.

- Looking for 1-2 trustees to join Development Committee

- More strategic fundraising related to our priorities as an organization in year 15 and fully grown out

Auditors presented audit report to Finance Committee on 10/16.  Finance Committee recommends the Board approve the FY25 Audit Report.

Note:  The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) issued a draft 2025 Compliance Supplement (Supplement) with revised Uniform Guidance for Single Audits (information attached). Because the Supplement has not been finalized, auditors will be unable to issue FY25 audits that include a Single Audit in time for the October 31, 2025, submission deadline. DESE is working on a solution to the regulatory due date for charters with a Single Audit, but they recommend the Board approve draft audits knowing that they might need to approve a subsequent report if the OMB changes the compliance supplement guidelines.

Mike Onorato at CIBC (Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce USA Private Wealth) has presented the following outline for investment services:

-Attendance by the CIBC team at all committee meetings:   Mike Onorato and his advisory partner, Rich Mullaney will attend committee meetings at any frequency preferred (quarterly, semi-annually, etc.). An Equity or Fixed Income specialist will attend intermittently.  Because there are two committees involved and somewhat different objectives, I suggest that we alternate those meetings with at least 2 annually per committee. 

-Comprehensive quarterly/semi-annual reporting:    Includes full economic and market commentary, trading activity, risk characteristics,     strategic alignment analysis, and complete performance attribution.

-IPS Construction:  Provide professional expertise for constructing and establishing a formal IPS (Investment Policy Statement).  Attached is the statement for the Foundation; there is not one currently for the School.

-Portfolio Implementation/Asset Allocation: Assist in constructing a diversified index fund portfolio with consideration to the goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon of Alma.

-Provide professional recommendations from a deep and experienced investment team: This includes rebalancing back to desired overall allocation and sub asset category targets, making recommendations based on CIBC’s investment teams' thought leadership with current market conditions and outlook, etc.)

-Trade Execution: Execute agreed up on trades with Fidelity after meetings, provide detailed written confirmation the day that the trades are executed, and then they will be documented on the quarterly reports for the next meeting.  This will ensure protection for the committee and provide a compliant paper trail.

-Fiduciary Duty:  All of the above items and actions will ensure compliance with regulations and cover all of the committee members obligation of Fiduciary Duty. 

            - FEE The fee for this service would be 3.5 bps annually, or approximately $26,250 at our current $7.6M total balance.

A slide deck that outlines CIBC's services for non-profits is attached.  As of 1/31/24, CIBC Private Wealth had approximately $3.3 billion in assets under management and advisement across 311 non-profit clients, with a mean client size of $10.55 million.

Q1 Budget vs. Actuals are in good shape with no changes to the forecast.

Notes:

Salaries and fringe will be adjusted at end of Q2.

5132 Contr Serv - Business & Finance - Q1 actuals include audit fee

5142 Contr Serv - Human Resources - tracking high due to initial payroll setup and new employee onboarding

5183 Travel, Dues & Other Exp -Admin - FY26 annual charter dues paid in Q1

5213 · Contr Serv -Instructional Leader - Contracted COO, funded with Chief of Staff unfilled position

5264 · General Supplies-Instructional - Bulk orders at start of school year

5268 · Instructional Software - most annual subscriptions paid in Q1

5530 Insurance (non-employee) - Annual liability insurance premium paid in Q1