Investments Options and Performance - Community Foundation Sonoma County

Funds of the Community Foundation are combined into investment pools for both economy of management and access to top management and advisory talent. Different pools provide you with options to meet your philanthropic goals. Local professionals comprise our Investment Advisory Committee, which meets regularly to guide our investment policies and monitor the performance of our professional managers. The Committee’s work ensures that our portfolio is well-managed and that it produces an ever-increasing income stream for the long-term benefit of our community. Pool performance is shown below. Our Investment Advisory Committee provides guidance and oversight to ensure that all fund pools are invested and managed according to investment best practices for institutional funds.

Long-Term Investment Pool – This option is best suited for long-term expendable and endowment funds. The pool utilizes a core/satellite construction designed to minimize costs, tracking error and volatility while providing opportunity to exceed our performance index. The core (85% of portfolio) consists of passive investments in equity (65%) and fixed income (35%) assets. The satellite (15% of portfolio) may hold passive or active positions to allow for greater flexibility of portfolio allocations relative to the core portfolio that act as a revenue enhancer to the overall portfolio.
ESG Investment Pool – Composed of funds that include environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) factors in addition to conventional financial factors in the security analysis and investment allocation. This pool employs a strategic asset allocation very similar to our Long-Term Investment Pool, represented by mostly passive investments in equity (65%) and fixed income (35%) assets. This is the best option for long-term expendable and endowment funds if you prefer investments that attempt to make a sustainable impact.
Intermediate Term Investment Pool – This option is intended for funds with a duration of two to five years and is available only for expendable funds. The pool is constructed to have less volatility than the long –term pool, but with higher returns than the short-term pool. The target asset allocation was revised by the Board in late 2015. The pool utilizes a core-satellite construction designed to minimize costs and tracking error. The core (85% of the portfolio) consists of passive investment in equity (25%) and fixed income assets (75%). The satellite may hold passive or active positions to allow for greater flexibility of allocations relative to the core portfolio.
Short-Term Investment Pool – Only expendable funds use this pool, which invests in money market funds and other short-term cash equivalents. The portfolio will be invested with the objectives of maintaining liquidity and marketability, preservation of capital, maximizing total return relative to the benchmark and seeking to utilize securities, where possible, that we deem to have Environmental, Social & Governance (ESG) profiles or business practices that are aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, fund projects that we deem to be aligned with recognized Green Bond Principles. This is the best option for an expendable fund that plans to grant out a significant portion of its money in the near term.

All Community Foundation portfolios are regularly rebalanced to their target allocations to maintain a balanced and diversified investment strategy.

Pool Performance Over Time

	Pool Assets at 10/31/2023	Quarter to Date	YTD	1 Year	3 Years*	5 Years*	Since Inception*	Date of Inception
Long-Term Pool	$116.6 M	(2.08)%	5.19%	7.81%	4.26%	6.27%	6.18%	02/01/1997
Composite Benchmark		(2.46)%	3.53%	7.12%	3.37%	5.29%	5.73%
ESG Pool	$ 29.1 M	(1.92)%	4.04%	7.03%	3.97%	5.79%	4.96%	06/01/2001
Composite Benchmark		(2.64)%	2.93%	6.94%	3.19%	5.21%	5.57%
Intermediate-Term Pool	$ 18.2 M	(0.89)%	2.68%	4.32%	0.16%	3.23%	3.30%	08/01/2003
Composite Benchmark		(1.19)%	1.81%	4.03%	(0.78)%	2.37%	3.89%
Short Term Pool	$ 16.0 M	0.34%	2.86%	3.39%	N/A	N/A	1.46%	09/01/2021
90 Day T-Bills		0.47%	4.29%	4.94%	N/A	N/A	2.67%

*Performance results are annualized for time periods greater than one year. Foundation support fees are not included in return calculations. Information on investment managers and investment fees available upon request.

Long-Term (LT) Pool Composite Benchmark: is a blend of indices meant to represent the underlying asset allocation of the pool. It is made up of 40% S&P 500, 15% Russell 2000 Index, 15% MSCI EAFE Net, 25% BC Aggregate Gov/Corp A+, and 5% 90-Day T-Bills from 1/1997 to 10/2011; 40% MSCI AC World Net, 20% BC Aggregate, 5% Citi WGBI UnHedged, 5% BTOP 50 Index, 5% S&P NAM Natural Resources, and 25% HFRI Fund of Funds Composite from 11/2011 to 9/2013; 40% MSCI AC World Net, 15% BC Aggregate, 5% Citi WGBI UnHedged, 5% BTOP 50 Index, 3% S&P NAM Natural Resources, 30% HFRI Fund of Funds Composite, and 2% Bloomberg Commodity from 10/2013 to 4/2014; 40% MSCI AC World Net, 15% BC Aggregate, 5% Citi WGBI UnHedged, 30% HFRI Fund of Funds Composite, and 10% Real Assets Equal Weighted Index from 5/2014 to 6/2015; 33% S&P 500, 23.5% Barclays US Gov/Credit 1-5 yr, 20.5% FTSE Developed Markets (Ex. N. America), 11.75% Barclays Global Aggregate (Ex USD Float Adjusted), 5.25% FTSE Emerging Markets, 3.5% S&P Mid Cap 400, 2.5% S&P Small Cap 600 from 7/2015 to 3/2019; and 33% S&P 500, 23.5% Bloomberg Barclays US Agg, 20.5% FTSE Developed Markets (Ex. N. America), 11.75% Barclays Global Aggregate (Ex USD Float Adjusted), 5.25% FTSE Emerging Markets, 3.5% S&P Mid Cap 400, 2.5% S&P Small Cap 600 from 4/2019 to Present.

ESG Investment Pool Composite Benchmark: is a blend of indices meant to represent the underlying asset allocation of the pool. It is made up of 40% S&P 500, 15% Russell 2000, 15% MSCI EAFE Net, 25% BC Agg, and 5% 90 Day T Bills from 5/2001 to 6/2012; 30.25% S&P 500, 11.75% Russell 2000, 28% MSCI EAFE Net, 25% BC Agg, and 5% 90 Day TBills from 7/2012 to 10/2016; 33% S&P 500, 35.25% Barclays US Gov/Credit 1-5 yr, 20.5% FTSE Developed Markets (Ex. N. America), 5.25% FTSE Emerging Markets, 3.5% S&P Mid Cap 400, and 2.5% S&P Small Cap 600 from 11/2016 to 3/2019; and 33% S&P 500, 35.25% Bloomberg Barclays US Agg, 20.5% FTSE Developed Markets (Ex. N. America), 5.25% FTSE Emerging Markets, 3.5% S&P Mid Cap 400, 2.5% S&P Small Cap 600 from 4/2019 to Present.

ESG Fixed Income Benchmark: is made up of 100% BC Gov/Cr 1-5 yr from 11/2016 to 03/2019; and 100% Barclays Aggregate from 04/2019 to Present.

Intermediate Term (IT) Pool Composite Benchmark: is a blend of indices meant to represent the underlying asset allocation of the pool. It is made up of 15% S&P 500, 5% Russell 2000, 5% MSCI EAFE Net, 65% BC Gov/Corp Interm, and 10% 90-Day T-Bills from 7/2003 to 2/2012; 20% MSCI AC World Net, 50% BC Agg, 5% Bloomberg Commodity, 15% HRFI Fund of Funds Composite, and 10% 90-day T-bills from 3/2012 to 9/2013; 20% MSCI AC World Net, 40% BC Agg, 2.5% Bloomberg Commodity, 17.5% HFRI Fund of Funds Composite, and 20% 90-Day T-Bills from 10/2013 to 4/2014; 20% MSCI AC World Net, 40% BC Aggregate, 17.5% HFRI Fund of Funds Composite, 20% 90-Day T-Bills, and 2.5% Real Assets Equal Weighted Index from 5/2014 to 12/2015; 50% Barclays US Gov/Credit 1-5 yr, 25% Barclays Global Aggregate (Ex. USD Float Adjusted), 13% S&P 500, 8% FTSE Developed Markets (Ex. N. America), 2% FTSE Emerging Markets, 1.25% S&P Mid Cap 400, 0.75% S&P Small Cap 600 from 1/2016 to Present; and 25% Barclays US Gov/Credit 1-5 yr, 25% Bloomberg Barclays Aggregate, 25% Bloomberg Barclays Global Aggregate (Ex. US), 13% S&P 500, 8% FTSE Developed Markets (Ex. N. America), 2% FTSE Emerging Markets, 1.25% S&P Mid Cap 400, 0.75% S&P Small Cap 600 from 6/2016 to Present.

The Short-Term Pool may include investments in money market funds and short-term cash equivalent investments.