Investment Confidence
Marion Community Foundation compares more than favorably with its fellow community foundations. In fact, its investments outperformed 89 percent of its peers last quarter. This is more of an affirmation than a surprise, but a pleasant one nonetheless.
“The second quarter of this year showed a return of +1.8 percent, giving us an 11th percentile ranking,” said Megan Queen, chair of the Investment Committee. “We are quite proud that our investment performance is one of the best, out of the 480 foundations of similar size in the comparison.”
One of the benchmarks an institutional asset pool’s investment performance is typically measured against is a peer universe of similar size asset pools with similar investment objectives. Marion Community Foundation falls into the category of foundations under $100 million in assets. Currently, the Foundation’s 500+ funds total $66 million in assets.
“An important factor of peer performance is focusing on long-term results,” said John Colla of Clearstead, the advisory firm that serves as Marion Community Foundation’s chief investment officer. Having outperformed more than half of its peers for at least the last seven years, Marion Community Foundation’s long-term peer performance is considered “strong” by Colla. He attributes this to the Foundation’s Investment Committee, a strong investment program, and good governance structure.
“Often, donors feel more comfortable giving their assets to a charity who has rigorous governance and strong fiduciary oversight of the investment program,” Colla said.
Marion Community Foundation utilizes a group of local investment advisors, overseen by its Investment Committee, and a dedicated team at Clearstead. The local advisors include: 3-D Private Wealth Advisors, Alluvial Private Wealth, EdwardJones, Lehman Capital Management Group, Stifel, and Whetstone Financial.
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