CONGREGATIONAL INVESTMENT TRUST
History of the Congregational Investment Trust
For many years, NACCC member churches have expressed concern over the
growing complexity and responsibility of overseeing their financial
resources. The NACCC has been faced with this same problem, and
has resolved it by investing its monies with an investment manager who
applies the "Total Return" approach.
The "Total Return" approach is designed to meet a
two-fold objective: (1) providing a reasonable level of current income
and (2) preserving capital in a manner that protects the capital against
inflation. The NACCC has determined that this two-fold objective
has been best met when its assets have been invested in a combination of
fixed income and equity securities. With this approach, current
income is generated by the fixed income securities, and the purchasing
power of the underlying capital is maintained through investment in
equity securities.
The approach followed by the NACCC is designed to
meet the investment needs of its member churches. At the
individual member church level, many investment vehicles are not
available or feasible because of the dollar amount of a member church's
investable funds and/or the time and expertise required to invest
effectively. Moreover, it is often difficult to objectively select
an investment manager when members of a church community have financial
ties to investment products or organizations. The objectivity of
the NACCC Investment Advisory Committee in establishing the Investment
Trust will help eliminate these potential conflicts of interest.
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Questions and Answers
Relating to Participation in the Trust |
| Question: |
Who can participate in the CONGREGATIONAL INVESTMENT TRUST?
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| Answer: |
Only member churches of the National Association of Congregational
Christian Churches are eligible to participate in the Investment Trust. |
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Question: |
What types of funds should be invested in the CONGREGATIONAL INVESTMENT
TRUST?
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Answer:
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Since the Investment Trust will use a "Total Return"
approach (which is a long-term investment strategy), only those funds
requiring such an approach should be invested in the Investment Trust.
Examples include endowments, building funds or any other funds where the
invasion of principal is not anticipated any time soon.
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Question: |
Will we have access to our funds invested in the
CONGREGATIONAL INVESTMENT TRUST?
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Answer: |
Yes. A church may, at any time, request the
withdrawal of all or a part of its account balance. Upon a request
for withdrawal, a church's account will be liquidated at net asset value
as of the close of business on the date of termination, and will be
distributed. Generally, the net asset value of the account will be
distributed within seven business days of the request. In no event
will a distribution be made more than fourteen days after a church has
requested a distribution.
In addition, a predetermined dollar amount can be distributed on a
regular basis. If the annual amount of the distributions exceeds
six percent of the account balance, however, there is a significant
likelihood that such distributions will reduce the principal value and,
eventually, deplete the account.
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Question: |
How is our account balance reported?
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Answer: |
Each participating church will have its own account
within the CONGREGATIONAL INVESTMENT TRUST. After the end of each
calendar quarter (March, June, September and December), each church will
receive its own account statement showing the beginning balance,
additions/withdrawals, realized gains/losses, unrealized gains/losses,
fees, income and ending balance.
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Question: |
Do we pay any fees to participate?
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Answer: |
Each quarter, each account will be debited for its
proportionate share of the Investment Trust's investment management fee.
While this amount will vary, it is based on the total value of all NACCC
assets managed by the Investment Manager. At the current time, the
annual fee is slightly less than one-half of one percent of the assets
under management. This management fee is significantly below the
average fee paid for investment management services.
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Question: |
How do we participate?
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Answer: |
A church must adopt the "Congregational Investment
Trust Adoption Agreement" and execute the "Account Registration Form"
indicating when the funds will be deposited with the Investment Manager
for investment in the Investment Trust. Both forms should be sent
to Associated Trust Company.
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Question: |
If we have further questions before or after we sign
up, whom can we call?
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Answer: |
Dan Drea at the NA Office will be happy to answer
your questions. He can be reached at 1-800-262-1620.
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PDF Format Reports:
December 2007
Report
March 2007
Report
December 2006
Report
September 2006
Report
March 2006 Report
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