October 2023

LAMP: Lighting the Way for Financial Prosperity
By Charlotte Smith
In 2024, LAMP will celebrate their 30 th Anniversary.
That’ll be 30 years of assisting Louisiana
municipalities in the pooling of their assets in
order to affect change. That’s quite a feat, and
the LMA is fortunate to have LAMP leading the
way.
LAMP’s objectives are the preservation of principle,
daily liquidity, and competitive yield.
What exactly does that mean to a novice, and
how can it work to a municipality’s advantage
when the protection of dollars is at stake? LAMP
Chief Executive Officer Theo Sanders explains.
“Since inception, LAMP’s first and foremost investment
objective has been safety. The primary goal of the
fund is to maintain a stable net asset value. To ensure this commitment
to safety, LAMP has consistently earned a AAAm rating
from Standard & Poor’s, the highest rating available to local government
investment pools like LAMP. Standard & Poor’s limits
LAMP’s Weighted Average Maturity (WAM), or the number of
days an investment can mature, to 60 days or less and monitors
the credit quality of the investments in LAMP on a weekly
“By pooling funds, LAMP’s
participants enjoy the level of
professional money management
otherwise available only to large
institutional investors.
Theo Sanders
LAMP Chief Executive Officer
Michael Chauffe. Both are proponents of the
services LAMP provides, and both have served
on board seats along with other past LMA
presidents including former Gonzales Mayor
Johnny Berthelot, former Ville Platte Mayor
Jennifer Vidrine and current LMA president
and Cheneyville Mayor Derrick Johnson, Sr.
“The City of Gonzales has seen much success by
working in conjunction with LAMP,” says Mayor
Arceneaux. “Being able to reap the financial
benefits while also being a part of something
larger that’s helping other municipalities allows
us to feel we’re doing something right. I’m
grateful for the time spent with us to make sure
we understand the process, and for LAMP being there for us as
we navigate through it.”
“The staff at LAMP is excellent to work with. Communication
has been top notch, as the team is easily accessible,” added
Mayor Chauffe. “I genuinely believe they are always looking for
ways to improve returns on your investments. I give LAMP a Triple
A rating!”
basis. Daily liquidity offers LAMP participants same-day access
to funds in their LAMP account via the online Participant Portal
with no transaction fees.”
“By pooling funds, LAMP’s participants enjoy the level of professional
money management otherwise available only to
large institutional investors. This generally results in higher
yields and lower management fees for municipalities investing
their funds with LAMP. “
LAMP works within a system called the ‘multiplier effect.’ It’s a
respected system for getting a better return on investments.
So, just how can municipalities benefit or help each other by
pooling their assets?
For nearly three decades, LAMP has grown from 20 municipalities
that signed on to participate in the program to 114
municipalities investing $1.1 billion in the pool. Together their
investment is ¼ of the total pool. Two such participants are
Gonzales Mayor Barney Arceneaux and Grosse Tete Mayor
Reliability is of critical importance to Sanders, and one such way
of ensuring that reliability is by closely monitoring state laws in
regard to investing municipal securities.
“LAMP strictly follows the state statute for local governments
in Louisiana. Our investment advisors and consultants monitor
the portfolio holdings on an on-going basis for compliance to
state law.”
LAMP participants can enjoy the benefits of immediate, fully
secure online access to their accounts via the Participant Portal.
Participants are able to process transactions, retrieve their
monthly statements, and download up-to date account information
24/7 thru the portal, as well as see daily rates, average
7-year yield rates, average 30-day yield rates, and weighted average
maturity on their homepage, www.lamppool.com.
For more information, contact Theo Sanders by emailing
tsanders@lamppool.com, or by calling 504.858.0885.
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LMR | OCTOBER 2023