Benicia’s portfolio is in the best shape it can be given the restrictions the city must follow in making its investments, Carlos Oblites, PFM Asset Management director, told the city Finance Committee on Friday.

But while the panel unanimously accepted Oblites’s report, during a later discussion of the quarterly document Vice Mayor Tom Campbell and committee member Alan Nadritch weren’t completely assured.

Campbell noted the slight declines the city’s investments have experienced during recent years, and Nadritch, one of Benicia’s former finance directors, said he and an assistant spent just 30 minutes a month to manage the city’s $30 million portfolio.

Nadritch’s time at the city’s financial helm came before Rob Sousa, Bill Zenoni, Karan Reid, Brenda Olwin and the current director, Karin Schnaider, took turns at the job on a permanent or interim basis.

“You’re doing the best you can do here,” Oblites told the panel. “You’re being actively managed.”

He said the city doesn’t wait until its investments mature to take advantage of other purchases, and the portfolio is diversified. “You’re buying what can give you a return. But you’re really limited by law.”

He conceded that “returns in the bond market have been terrible,” but he said that’s changing, with yields starting to improve, providing higher interest in the future.

“Rates have been low,” Oblites said. “They’re starting to climb out of it. We’re talking pennies here, but the move is on, and it’s a dynamic that will work for the city.”

He recommended the city make few changes, keeping its balance of treasuries, “the safest on the planet, but they have the lowest yield,” with slightly riskier investments designed to produce better returns.

Oblites said the city pays a tenth of 1 percent or less of its investment — 10 basis points — annually, or about $27,000, for his company’s service. He compared that to other types of investment services, which could cost 35 basis points, or as much as 100.

Referring to other governmental agencies in California, City Treasurer Kenneth Paulk asked, “Are we all in the same boat?”

Oblites told him the state can make investments forbidden to Benicia, but said all cities, counties, school districts and the state “are in the same environment.” In fact, Benicia has better returns than some other governments in the Bay Area, he said.

“Yours is a customized, individual portfolio,” he said, and the investments are designed to help the city achieve its goals.

He warned against taking “everything to the max,” in answer to Chairperson Michael Clarke’s question about the wisdom of pushing the permissible financial envelope.

“In the long term, you would have more return,” Oblites said, but the next two years are expected to produce “a lot of volatility.”

Clarke was satisfied with that answer. “Our obligation is safety,” he said.

In other business, Schnaider gave the panel an update on its current work plan, saying the city has completed the initial studies of how much its services cost to provide. “The next is the cost-recovery plan,” she said.

Benicia isn’t likely to recover all the costs of the services it provides, she said. For instance, if the city assessed to users the actual cost to swim at the James Lemos Pool, few would go there, she said. That means the city must examine how much it can subsidize, or determine whether increases in charges can be made in steps.

Such considerations are still in the talking stage, City Manager Brad Kilger told the committee, and the Council’s preferences still need to be determined. A review of city fees will come in January.

The committee may meet with the Council in a study session to talk about the city’s next two-year budget, Schnaider said. The two panels also would be updated about the city’s 10-year financial forecast during that meeting, she said.

More updates the committee will receive next year will be on the progress of the city’s accounting software project, she said. The panel may see the city’s annual audit report in January.

The committee also changed its meeting time and day to 9 a.m. the fourth Thursday of the month. Because of the Thanksgiving holiday, the next meeting will be 9 a.m. Nov. 20, and because of Christmas closures the subsequent meeting will be at 9 a.m. Dec. 18.