The Board of Trustees has established a spending objective equal to five percent of the rolling 12 quarter average of fair market value for the total Endowment Fund for each fiscal year. The Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees will attempt to balance the endowment’s shorter-term grant making obligations with its goal to provide grants into perpetuity and, therefore, adhere to a spending policy that is flexible. Since expected investment returns from more aggressive portfolios are not consistent and predictable, the Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees feels that shorter-term spending in dollar terms must be flexible enough to endure periods of underperformance without excessive deterioration of real principal. Therefore, this endowment will tend toward a risk level commensurate with the investment strategy of seeking higher, long-term investment returns.
In order to accomplish this goal, the target rate of return for the portfolio is 10 percent:
- Spending Amount - 5 percent
- Inflation - 3 percent
- Administrative Expenses - 1 percent
- Real Growth - 1 percent
- Target Return - 10 percent