The ad-hoc SSA Investment committee is charged with providing recommendations to the BOD on changes to the SSA investment policy as stated in section 8.8.1 and 8.8.2 of the Board Policy Manual. This is not a permanent committee. Current members are Brian Tucker, Rick Aster, David Vonseggern, and Mitch Withers (chair).
The proposal was approved by BOD to form the committee to recommend changes in the investment policy.
The results are below of a cursory, unscientific survey of other societies.
Other societies appear to use an investment committee with relatively wide
latitude, subject to board approval, rather than an investment policy.
The SSA is rather small in comparison both in assets and membership.
Populating a permanent committee may be a challenge so instead it may
be reasonable to employ an investment firm such as vanguard. It may
also be reasoanble to subdivide the society's assets into funds of
different time horizons. The time horizon's then govern the investment
strategy. For example operational funds have a horizon of less than 1
year and are cash or equivalents, operational reserves might have a
horizon of 3 years or less with a strategy similar to the current
policy. Other funds might have a decadal horizon where an example
strategy might be:
An alternative might be to invest decadel time frame assets in index funds
(e.g. S&P indexed).
It is not clear to this author, whether the above is an appropriate policy for
the SSA nor how to succinctly phrase it into one.
The EERI uses an investment company with oversight from a financial
committee composed of the President, Treasurer, and the Executive Director.
The only policy EERI has is that it has the fiduciary responsibility to
make sound investments.
The AGU has a Budget and Finance Committee that, based on online documents,
does not have specific investment requirements but rather is charged
with maintaining the general financial health of the union and its prorams.
The Charge is contained in its July report.
The Community Foundation of
Southern Indiana has a mission to hold and grow charitable funds for
people, businesses, charities, churches, and other organizations. Their
investment plan
can be much more agressive than other non-profits depending on
the time horizon of the given andowment. An example of a fund with
greater than ten years horizon more or less equally distributes assets
between large, mid, and small cap equities, international equities, and
fixed income investments.
The Sigma Xi Committee on Finances advises board regarding all financial
issues of the society including investment strategies and budgets. The
June 2007 report provides some detail.
Thirty page document from the Commonfund Institute on
Principles of Nonprofit Investment Management
Expected long term return: 9.15 percent (5.65 percent over CPI)
Risk tolerance: High/Moderate, losses not to exceed -14.2 percent per year.
Distribute among:
Domestic Large Cap 23%
Domestic Mid Cap 18%
Domestic Small Cap 14%
International Equities 15%
Fixed Income 30%