Wicomico Parish Church, Wicomico Church, VA
Immanuel Church on the Hill, Alexandria, VA
Previous slide
Next slide

Investing with Trustees of the Funds

The mission of Trustees of the Funds is to help Virginia Episcopal parishes and organizations achieve competitive investment returns while embracing the mission and goals of the Diocese and the broader Episcopal Church.

The Investment Committee is composed of six trustees with over 150 years of investment-related experience. The primary role of the Investment Committee is to work with our professional Investment Advisor to implement the investment policies of ToTF.

Our Investment Advisor

ToTF’s Investment Advisor is LCG Associates, a national investment consulting firm, headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia that provides highly customized advice to a select number of clients. Our primary contacts at LCG are Ms. Claire Chotiner, President, and Mr. Zach Brummet, Consultant.

Claire P. Chotiner,
CFA, CAIA
President, LCG Assoc.

Ms. Chotiner joined LCG in 2007 and is President. She is a member of the Board of Directors. Claire oversees the firm’s business operations. In addition to her management responsibilities, Claire works with a limited number of clients and conducts capital market and asset class research. Prior to serving in this role, Claire was Chief Operating Officer, Senior Consultant. She started her career with LCG as an Investment Analyst. Claire is a CFA Charter holder and a member of the CFA Society of Atlanta. She is also a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (“CAIA”) Charter holder.

Zach L. Brumett,
CFA, CAIA

Consultant

Mr. Brumett joined LCG in 2014 and is a Consultant. His responsibilities include investment strategy development, manager due diligence, special research projects, and providing investment advice to clients. He began his career at LCG as an Investment Analyst. Zach is a CFA Charter holder and is a member of the CFA Society of Atlanta. He is also a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (“CAIA”) Charter holder.

Cooperative Structure

ToTF operates in a cooperative manner with all participants benefiting from the economies of scale associated with over a hundred investors pooling their assets into three actively managed funds. ToTF earns no profit, maintains no reserves, and charges no fees. All earnings net of operating expenses go to our participants.

Benefits include:

  • Far lower costs for in-depth investment advice and active management than available to an individual investor.
  • Professional management provided by LCG Associates which provides highly customized advice to a select number of clients.
  • Performance of funds, compliance with ToTF’s Investment Policy, and operating expenses are overseen by a Board of business, law and investment professionals, and a professional Executive Director and Secretary/Treasurer.
  • Access to investment vehicles within our three funds which are often not available to small or individual investors.
  • Investments that adhere to Episcopal values.
  • Independent and Objective professional asset management that shields churches and organizations from potential conflicts of interest.
  • Ongoing professional management of assets provides continuity of service to participating churches and organizations.
  • No minimum investment amount required so the smallest Virginia Episcopal organization may participate.

Investing with Episcopal Values

A primary goal of ToTF is to deliver solid investment performance balanced with reasonable investment risk. Embedded in that goal is a sincere commitment to Episcopal values described in the Diocesan Canons.

ToTF affirms “the social responsibility of the church and the social implications of the Christian faith.” (Diocese of Virginia Canon 13; Section 2).

Our Episcopal-Aligned Investing Policy commits to Socially Responsible Investing by applying regular screens to our investments based on the Episcopal Church’s No-Buy List. We actively engage in Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing by seeking out opportunities to align our values with our portfolio.

Overall Portfolio Objectives
Deliver solid performance for all portfolios through thoughtful screening, due diligence, and risk management.
The Trustees will review the Investment Policy at least annually to determine whether objectives are still relevant and feasible.
Less than 5% of aggregate ToTF assets is represented by companies on the DFMS no-buy list.
ToTF will seek to include investment managers that are diverse and represent minority populations.
Balanced Fund Objectives
At least 10% of Balanced Fund assets is invested in explicit ESG strategies.
At least 70% of the Balanced Fund will be considered fully liquid.
Illiquid investments will be diversified by industry, geography, and vintage year.
No single security (excluding mutual funds/commingled funds) should exceed 10% of the Global Equity market value at purchase.
No single major industry should exceed 25% of the Global Equity market value.
Foreign equities should not exceed 50% of the combined market value of Global Equity, Private Equity, and Real Assets/Real Estate.
The duration of the fixed income portfolio should range from three to nine years.
The average quality of the fixed income portfolio is intended to be AA or higher.
Debt issues denominated in foreign currencies should not exceed 30% of the fixed income portfolio.
The average duration of fixed income securities held within Liquid Capital should not exceed twelve months.
Short Term Fund Objectives
The Short Term Fund will seek to maintain a duration between one and two years.
The Short Term Fund will hold bonds of investment grade quality, on average, and should not hold bonds rated less than BB.
The Short Term Fund will retain at least three investment managers within the portfolio.
The Short Term Fund's volatility will remain relatively low and should be roughly in line with a portfolio of shorter-maturity bonds.
All Equity Fund Objectives
At least 10% of All Equity Fund assets is invested in explicit ESG strategies.
No single security (excluding mutual funds/commingled funds) should exceed 10% of the market value at purchase.
No single major industry should exceed 25% of the market value.
The All Equity Fund will retain at least three investment managers within the portfolio.
Foreign equities should not exceed 50% of the market value.
Small-cap managers should not exceed 25% of the All Equity Fund.

Participant Services

Secure Information Portal

ToTF Participants may access a secure information portal which provides each parish’s or organization’s current and historical status of funds invested with ToTF. The information portal is password protected and only available to contacts provided by the participant parish or organization.

Secure Transactions Portal

Participants make deposits and withdrawals from their invested funds through a secure transaction portal.

  • The portal may only be used by participant-authorized and registered contacts.
  • All transaction communications are encrypted.
  • All transactions undergo two-factor authentication.

Timely Information

ToTF sends out monthly financial statements on each parish’s funds, a performance summary of overall ToTF funds’ performance, and a market commentary.

ToTF sends out periodic memoranda outlining performance information, as well as other investment topics relevant to our participants.

Trustees of the Funds’ participant services are supported by TCG, HUB International, that offers a variety of financial and administrative services to institutions and investors. TCG services over 1 million participants and manages $7.3B in AUM and utilizing partnerships with custodians like Broadridge Trust and Schwab Bank allows TCG to enhance the participant experience.

TCG, HUB International
English