Order Description

Please generate one Excel output for the final group portfolio and one word file containing your Investment Policy. In your Excel file, you must show all of the formulas you have used necessary to solve problems. Upon completion of the project, each group will be required to confidentially grade each member as individuals.

I. Introduction

Purpose of this Investment Policy Statement is to establish guidelines for the Fund’s investment portfolio the statement also incorporates accountability standards that will be used for monitoring the progress of the Portfolio’s investment program and for evaluating the contributions of the manager(s) hired on behalf of the Fund and its beneficiaries.

II. Role of the Investment Committee (We can use other terms or name)

The Investment Committee is acting in a fiduciary capacity with respect to the Portfolio, and is accountable to the Board and to the Executive Committee, for overseeing the investment of all assets owned by, or held in trust for, the Portfolio.

A. This Investment Policy Statement sets forth the investment objectives, distribution policies, and investment guidelines that govern the activities of the Committee and any other parties to whom the Committee has delegated investment management responsibility for Portfolio assets.

B. Policies contained in this statement are intended to provide guidelines, where necessary, for ensuring that the Portfolio’s investments are managed consistent with the short-term and long- term financial goals of the Fund. At the same time, they are intended to provide for sufficient investment flexibility in the face of changes in capital market conditions and in the financial circumstances of the Institution.

D. The Committee will review this Investment Policy Statement at least once per year.

Investment objective and spending policy

The Fund is to be invested with the objective of preserving the long-term, real purchasing power of assets while providing a relatively predictable and growing stream of annual distributions in support of the Institution.

For the purpose of making distributions, the Fund shall make use of a total-return-based spending policy, meaning that it will fund distributions from net investment income, net realized capital gains, and proceeds from the sale of investments.

C. The distribution of Fund assets will be permitted to the extent that such distributions do not exceed a level that would erode the Fund’s real assets over time. The Committee will seek to reduce the variability of annual Fund distributions by factoring past spending and Portfolio asset values into its current spending decisions. The Committee will review its spending assumptions annually for the purpose of deciding whether any changes therein necessitate amending the Fund’s spending policy, its target asset allocation, or both.

D. Periodic cash flow, either into or out of the Portfolio, will be used to better align the investment portfolio to the target asset allocation.

IV. Portfolio investment policies

A. Asset allocation policy

1. It is recognizes that the strategic allocation of Portfolio assets across broadly defined financial asset and subasset categories with varying degrees of risk, return, and return correlation will be the most significant determinant of long-term investment returns and Portfolio asset value stability.

2. Fund assets will be managed as a balanced portfolio composed of two major components: an equity portion and a fixed income portion. The expected role of Fund equity investments will be to maximize the long-term real growth of Portfolio assets, while the role of fixed income investments will be to generate current income, provide for more stable periodic returns, and provide some protection against a prolonged decline in the market value of Portfolio equity investments.

4. Cash investments will, under normal circumstances, only be considered as temporary Portfolio holdings, and will be used for Fund liquidity needs or to facilitate a planned program of dollar-cost averaging into investments in either or both of the equity and fixed income asset classes.

5. Outlined below are the long-term strategic asset allocation guidelines, determined by the Committee to be the most appropriate, given the Fund’s long-term objectives and short-term constraints. Portfolio assets will, under normal circumstances, be allocated across broad asset and subasset classes in accordance with the following guidelines:

Asset class    Subasset class    Target allocation

Equity        70%

U.S.     60%

Non-U.S.    10%

Fixed income        30%

Investment grade    25%

Below-investment grade    5%

Cash        0%

6. To the extent the Portfolio holds investments in nontraditional, illiquid, and/or nonmarketable securities including (but not limited to) venture capital, hedge funds, and real estate investments, these assets will be treated collectively as alternative investments for purposes of measuring the Portfolio’s asset allocation. While not specifically considered within this policy, alternative investments may comprise no more than 15% of total Portfolio assets and, to the extent they are owned, will proportionately reduce target allocations to the three primary asset classes itemized above.

B. Diversification policy

1. Diversification across and within asset classes is the primary means by which the Committee expects the Portfolio to avoid undue risk of large losses over long time periods. To protect the Portfolio against unfavorable outcomes within an asset class due to the assumption of large risks, the Committee will take reasonable precautions to avoid excessive investment concentrations. Specifically, the following guidelines will be in place:

a)    With the exception of fixed income investments explicitly guaranteed by the U.S. government, no single investment security shall represent more than 5% of total Portfolio assets.

b) With the exception of passively managed investment vehicles seeking to match the returns on a broadly diversified market index, no single investment pool or investment company (mutual fund) shall comprise more than 20% of total Portfolio assets.

c)    With respect to fixed income investments, for individual bonds, the minimum average credit quality of these investments shall be investment grade (Standard & Poor’s BBB or Moody’s Baa or higher).

C. Rebalancing

It is expected that the Portfolio’s actual asset allocation will vary from its target asset allocation as a result of the varying periodic returns earned on its investments in different asset and sub- asset classes. The Portfolio will be rebalanced to its target normal asset allocation under the following procedures:

1. The investment manager will use incoming cash flow (contributions) or outgoing money movements (disbursements) of the Portfolio to realign the current weightings closer to the target weightings for the Portfolio.

2. The investment manager will review the Portfolio semiannually to determine the deviation from target weightings. During each semiannual review, the following parameters will be applied:

a)    If any asset class (equity or fixed income) within the Portfolio is +/–5 percentage points from its target weighting, the Portfolio will be rebalanced.

b) If any fund within the Portfolio has increased or decreased by greater than 20% of its target weighting, the fund will be rebalanced.

3. The investment manager may provide a rebalancing recommendation at any time.

4. The investment manager shall act within a reasonable period of time to evaluate deviation from these ranges.

D. Other investment policies

Unless expressly authorized by the Committee, the Portfolio and its investment managers are prohibited from:

1. Purchasing securities on margin or executing short sales.

2. Pledging or hypothecating securities, except for loans of securities that are fully collateralized.

3. Purchasing or selling derivative securities for speculation or leverage.

4. Engaging in investment strategies that have the potential to amplify or distort the risk of loss beyond a level that is reasonably expected, given the objectives of their Portfolio.

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