By Jerry Love, LBF director of planned giving
ALEXANDRIA – Excessive summertime heat surrounded the mid-year meeting of the Louisiana Baptist Foundation Board of Trustees on July 24. However, board members were cool and calm as they took care of the business at hand which proved to be fairly mild, observers noted.
Chuck Murray, LBF CPA and controller, reviewed the financial positions for the quarter- and year-to- date. Assets under management as of June 30, 2018 stood at $162,540,914, which is less than the beginning year assets by about $4.5 million.
This difference is due to at least one church using funds for a building project, combined with the normal cycle of churches and entities withdrawing funds during late spring and summer months.
Murray and Executive Director Wayne Taylor jointly reviewed a summary of the data regarding the performance of the Foundation’s investments for the year, thus far, and reported the following returns:
— Short Term Fund: 1.2 percent actual annualized yield;
— Group Investment Fund, comprised of various market sectors: 0.28 percent total return;
— Diversified Income Fund, conservative income-oriented fund: -0.51percent total return.
The funds are all generating returns that exceed their respective benchmarks as well as in line with the Investment Policies established by the Board of Trustees.
A review of the budget revealed a positive trend for the first half of the year. The LBF budget surplus at mid-year includes money for a new position that was approved and budgeted but not yet filled.
Laurie Ardoin with Spengler – Stewart Insurance Agency updated trustees about the insurance coverage associated with their service, including directors and officers coverage and travel insurance while in route to LBF functions. Taylor said he and Ardoin would discuss the policies in detail and report to the board any recommendations for change in coverage.
Evelyn Renfrow, partner with the CPA firm of Payne, Moore and Herrington, LLP, reviewed her firm’s audit of the Foundation, issuing an “unmodified opinion,” or “clean” audit report.
The opinion letter from the firm states that the LBF financial statements “present fairly, in all respects, the financial position of Louisiana Baptist Foundation as of December 31, 2017.” The audit report was accepted and approved unanimously by trustees.
The next meeting for the Louisiana Baptist Foundation trustees is scheduled for October 23, 2018.
The Louisiana Baptist Foundation assists individuals in making gifts that benefit Louisiana Baptist churches and ministries, and to assist Baptist churches and entities with asset management. To learn more about the work and ministry of the Foundation, to review investment returns for its managed funds, or to see a list of current trustees, go to www.LBFinfo.org.
