Howard Dare of Dare Capital Group presented the committee with a Q3 market and investment review on Nov. 13 and urged continued monitoring of four funds in the defined-contribution (DC) plan.

Dare summarized market performance and drivers, noting that ‘‘the S and P is up about 16.5’’ year-to-date as of the most recent close and that corporate buybacks are materially affecting earnings-per-share metrics. He said the committee should interpret strong headline earnings with awareness that buybacks reduce shares outstanding, which can raise earnings-per-share even when underlying fundamentals are mixed.

At the fund level, Dare recommended keeping the following four funds on the plan's watch list through year-end and re-evaluating them in Q1 2026 rather than closing or replacing them immediately: the Hartford Dividend fund (about $1.2 million as of Sept. 30 and representing less than 5% of DC plan assets), JPMorgan Growth Advantage (large-cap growth fund with concentrated top holdings), American Century Small Cap Growth (first time on the watch list), and an AllianceBernstein inflation-protected bond strategy (small allocation).

Dare described the watch-list rationale as process-driven: underperformance against peer benchmarks or short-term risk metrics, not necessarily absolute losses. He told the committee it was reasonable to let underperforming funds "roll out through the end of the year" and then “regroup in Q1, reevaluate, take a look at it, and maybe 2 other options in the category,” language he used to recommend maintaining the watch status.

He also gave an extended primer on target-date funds, comparing BlackRock (the plan's index-based target-date provider) with Vanguard, Nuveen, State Street and American Funds across vintages (2030–2060). Dare highlighted that expense ratios, stock allocation and an index-vs.-active construction materially affect multi-year percentile rankings and argued the committee could consider its employee age demographics in deciding whether to adopt a different target-date suite or to complement the current index strategy with an active sleeve.

Committee members signaled informal agreement to keep the listed funds on watch and to review further in Q1 2026. No formal motion to change fund line-up or close funds was recorded at the meeting.