Richmond council might rethink its investment portfolio after all.
A late addition to Monday’s committee meeting agenda from the mayor, Malcolm Brodie, seemed to mirror a motion from Coun. Kelly Greene four weeks ago that suggested council scrutinize its investments.
But Brodie clarified to the Richmond News that his motion is much broader, focusing on the city’s investment policy, not just looking at three banks that finance fossil-fuel projects, as Greene suggested.
“Hers was very focused, mine is very general,” Brodie said.
Cities are limited in what they can invest in, Brodie said, but the Municipal Finance Authority is looking at a new fossil-fuel free investment that would be available for cities to put their money in.
Priorities have evolved over the years, Brodie said, so he thinks there will be more factors taken into consideration in the future when making investment decisions.
At Monday’s meeting, Brodie said that there’s been a lot of talk about “appropriate types of investment” that the city should be making as well as “socially responsible investments.”
“So, it seemed like an opportune time to take a look at our policy — our investment policies, our portfolio and ask staff to make comments on that and recommendations,” Brodie said.
The city has $1.26 billion in investments.
