Investment Information and Recent Performance
Component funds of the Community Foundation are combined into investment pools for both economy of management and for access to the best possible management and advisory talent available. Four separate pools provide donors with options to meet their philanthropic goals.
Local professional volunteers comprise the Investment Advisory Committee, which meets regularly to guide our investment policies and monitor the performance of professional managers. The Committee's work is essential to ensure that our well-managed portfolio will produce an ever-increasing income stream for the long-term benefit of the people of Sonoma County.
Performance since inception (January 1997) of our main long-term pool through October, 2007 continues to exceed its target return. For our endowment funds this means both real dollar growth in principal and a steady flow of grant dollars each year for our community. We continue to perform in the top quarter of those community foundations reporting to the Council on Foundations for multi-year results.
In July, 2003 we opened an intermediate term investment pool. This pool, with a strategic allocation of 75% fixed income and 25% equities, offers an attractive vehicle for funds that are intended to be granted out within 2-5 years.
 Intermediate Term Investment Policy Statement
We opened a new Short-Term Investment Pool on July 1, 2006. Earnings from invested cash and cash equivalents will be allocated among participants. As with other pools, foundation support fees are assessed on the fund balance in the pool.
Pool |
Pool Assets at 10/30/07 |
12 Month Return (net of investment fees) |
Inception Date of Pool |
Return Since Inception |
Benchmark Returns Since Inception |
Long-Term Pool |
$81.5 M |
11.6% |
Jan 1997 |
9.4% |
7.6% |
Socially Responsible Long-Term Pool |
$15.1 M |
12.6% |
May 2001 |
5.4% |
7.1% |
Intermediate Term Pool* |
$3.2 M |
6.6% |
July 2003 |
5.7% |
6.2% |
Short-Term Pool |
$4.9 M |
5.3% |
July 2006 |
5.0% |
n/a |
*All returns annualized. Foundation support fees are not included in the return calculations.
For its long-term investments, the Community Foundation focuses on a long-term strategy that will protect and increase assets over time. Investing in order to sustain endowment funds requires an acceptance of market volatility. Without such risk, we cannot even hope to achieve the return needed to sustain endowment funds over the long term. The investment policy specifies a target asset allocation among seven major categories of equity and fixed income investments. Our policy requires that the portfolio be regularly rebalanced to its target allocations to maintain a balanced and diversified investment strategy.
Long-Term Investment Policy Statement
SRI screens
For more information about our investment policy and investment options, contact Paul DeMarco, Vice President for Finance, 707/579-4073, Ext 17. |
