Benefits and Risks of the Investment Trust Funds

Benefits

Investment Trust Fund (ITF) participants can be assured that purposes and objectives of the Foundation are consistent with the biblical principles of the stewardship of resources.  Funds are put to work in ways that can support both current ministries and provide the means of sustaining new ministries both now and in the future.  Another important benefit of participating in the Investment Trust Fund is that all holdings are screened to ensure that they comply with our United Methodist Social Principles and The Book of Discipline.

Beyond the economies of scale and social responsibility issues, ITF participants also benefit from unbiased, consistent, professional investment management and oversight offered by both the Investment Committee of the Foundation's Board of Directors and by the expertise of SEI Investments Management, a leading 'manager of managers' provider to the institutional marketplace in the U.S. Institutional portfolio managers are selected for their strategic, not speculative, approach to securities selection.

The Foundation is a self-supporting stewardship Ministry.  The administrative fees charged to ITF participants are used only to support the work of the Foundation on behalf of it's clients and for the ministries of the Indiana Annual Conference.  Every United Methodist individual and organization has access to our planned giving, endowment development and other stewardship ministries.  ITF participation helps make those services available.

Risks

The risk inherent in investing the Investment Trust Fund is the risk common to any security.  The net asset value of the invested funds will fluctuate in response to changes in economic conditions, interest rates, and the market's perception of the underlying value of the securities held by the Fund.

There can be no assurance that the Fund will achieve its investment objectives, since there is uncertainty in every investment.  Individual securities held by the Fund will go up and down in price.  Only accounts able to tolerate short-term, possibly substantial fluctuations in the value of their investment--brought about by the volatility of stock or bond prices--should contemplate investment in the Fund.

Although the Fund seeks to reduce risk by investing in a diversified portfolio of stocks and bonds, such diversification does not eliminate all risks.  There can be no assurance that a Fund will be profitable, or that investors (clients) will not suffer losses on their investments in the Fund.  Should many investors, for example, choose to withdraw investments in the Fund at about the same time, the Fund may have to sell portfolio securities at a time when it would be disadvantageous to do so.