Our Investment Approach

We are committed to stewarding the charitable funds entrusted to us by our donors to get as many dollars as possible out to the causes, nonprofits and communities that they care about.

Our Investment Committee consists of board members and volunteers with extensive institutional investment experience and varied perspectives. With oversight by our board, the committee is responsible for developing and implementing our investment policy, recommending investment managers, and monitoring our investment performance.

The committee works with our investment managers at Brown Brothers Harriman and Boston Trust Walden to preserve and grow our endowment through prudent investment strategies. Our three-pronged asset-allocation approach centers on growth, risk reduction and inflation protection.

• All of our donors’ funds are pooled together and invested in a well-diversified portfolio, which includes large, midsize and small-cap U.S. equities, international equities, real estate, alternatives and fixed-income securities (bonds).
• Both portfolios are designed to reduce exposure to tobacco-related products and fossil fuels. They have no direct exposure to gun manufacturers or distributors. Additionally, our BTW portfolio applies Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) screens to our investments and also excludes companies involved in animal testing.

Recent Investment Performance

Recent investment performance has followed general market trends for similarly allocated investment portfolios. Our 5-year annualized rate of return keeps us in line with our objectives of achieving perpetuity and making annual grant and scholarship awards that keep pace with inflation from the more than 550 funds we oversee.