Objective of Endowment
The principle of the endowment fund will be protected. Any income of the endowment fund may be dispersed from time to time to meet the operating, strategic, and other financial needs of First Church.
Governance of the Endowment
After an initial call with the trust attorney, the entire team discussed several issues that a much smaller team will take to the attorney for in-depth discussion:
- Powers of trustees
- Provisions for removing and replacing an investment manager
- Spend policy – what percentage of earnings can be responsibly distributed
- Amendment, revocation, and dissolution of the trust, assuming we set up an irrevocable trust
Investment Management
The EFTF continues to examine the following areas as each meeting introduces a round of deeper questions:
- Investment policy statement
- Active versus passive investment strategies
- Pricing
- Asset allocation methodology
- ESG/SRI (Environmental, Social, and Governance/Socially Responsible Investments)
The EFTF plans to have a recommendation to the Board by Fall of this year.
Ron Oshima, Endowment Fund Task Force member