Happy Birthday TPF Balanced Fund!

By Beth Wilt, TPF’s VP of Finance & Treasurer

Bake the cake, light the candles, and get ready to sing—the TPF Balanced Pooled Fund just turned 20, and it’s time to celebrate! When the TPF Board of Trustees’ Investment Committee first conceived the possible evolution of this fund, I don’t think even they could have anticipated its vigorous lifespan including its allocation diversity, as well as the number and types of investors. Their original goal was simply to answer one question, “What would you do with it if it was your money?”

THEN: At the time the fund was established, TPF had two investment pool offerings, and the TPF Balanced Fund had an allocation to both—large cap value equity and fixed income.

NOW: Today the fund is highly diversified with an allocation to eleven investment pools, including domestic and international equities, fixed income, and alternatives. Our Investment Committee does a deep dive into the allocation of the fund on an annual basis, which serves to add color and knowledge to the manager and performance monitoring at their quarterly meetings.

WHAT MAKES IT SO SPECIAL?

Our spend policy makes it possible for our partners to better manage yearly budgets. Bred into the fund’s DNA is a spend policy that is calculated, reviewed, and set once a year, thus allowing staff to assist our partners with budgeting and forecasting needs. Our goal for the structure of the fund is actually simple: invest the funds to generate enough return to cover the spend rate, keep up with inflation and grow the corpus at least a little bit each year. Understanding this basic tenet is paramount to understanding this investment option. We are proud to say that history has proven this to be a prosperous structure. Looking back over the past 20 years, the TPF Balanced Fund has succeeded in this goal. We know that there are times when a need might dictate more or less spending than what we recommend, and we are here to help you with these decisions.

WE’RE HERE TO SERVE YOU

Our partners who invest in the TPF Balanced Fund know that our staff and Investment Committee work tirelessly to ensure the following:

• We maintain a diversity of investments to cover the ebbs and flows of various asset classes moving in and out of favor over time.
• We set a prudent spend policy to support mission.

When you invest in the TPF Balanced Fund, you know that you can leave these types of detailed decisions to us, secure in the knowledge that we always act in the best interest of your church or nonprofit. The best part? You can now spend volunteer committee meetings putting your time and talents to better, more productive uses—you know, like throwing a birthday party!

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