The Investment Program at the Maine Community Foundation
Effective stewardship of philanthropic assets is key to the Maine Community Foundation's ability to fulfill its mission of building permanent charitable funds to strengthen Maine communities.
Our investment goal is to preserve and enhance the real value of these assets over time.
Investment Committee Oversight
Members of the Maine Community Foundation's Investment Committee have extensive experience in business, investments and financial services.
The committee sets investment strategy, hires outside professional managers and monitors investment performance against industry benchmarks.
The assets of the foundation are managed by investment managers who are retained for their proven long-term investment results and expertise in specific asset classes or market sectors.
The Investment Committee members as of December 31, 2007 are:
Peter Rothschild, Committee Chair
Private investor, NYC and Islesboro
Forrest Berkley
Retired Partner – Grantham, Mayo, VanOtterloo & Co., LLC,
Boston, MA and Swans Island
David Coit
Managing Director, North Atlantic Capital, Portland, Maine
Jean Deighan
President, Deighan Associates, Bangor, Maine
Martha Dumont
Former director of fixed income research, Lehman Brothers,
Falmouth
Charles P. Harriman
Senior Vice President, Wachovia Securities, Portland
Henry L.P. Schmelzer
President, Maine Community Foundation and former
President, CEO and trustee of New England Funds, Ellsworth
John B. Sullivan
President, Portland Global Advisors, Portland
Cambridge Associates Investment Consultants
Cambridge Associates, LLC, of Boston works with the Investment Committee to monitor the investment performance of individual managers and advises the committee on investment strategy, asset allocation and manager selection.
Cambridge Associates was established in the 1970s to conduct a comprehensive study of endowment management practices for Harvard University. Since then, the firm has become one of the nation's leading investment consultants, serving a distinguished client base of over 600 colleges, universities and foundations.
Investment Strategy
The Maine Community Foundation investment strategy calls for a portfolio diversified across U.S. domestic and global asset classes.
A diversified portfolio reduces the impact of individual market volatility and helps to control risk. In addition, the foundation uses multiple investment managers in some asset classes, a diversification technique that further reduces risk.
The investment results of each individual manager are regularly monitored by the Investment Committee and Cambridge Associates. The performance of each manager is measured against a specific benchmark appropriate to the asset class it manages.
Selecting excellent managers is fundamental to the foundation's investment strategy. Managers are chosen based on their expertise in managing specific asset classes and their favorable investment performance.
MaineCF Investment Performance report and chart.
The Foundation’s investment managers as of September 30, 2007
The Foundations investment managers
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Firm
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Market sector
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City of London
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Emerging Market Equities
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Commonfund
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Venture Capital - Private Equity - Natural Resources
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D. F. Dent & Co.
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US Small Cap Growth
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Davidson Kempner Institutional
Partners
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Absolute Return
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Delaware International Advisors
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International Equities
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Elliott International
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Absolute Return
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Bank of America
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S&P Indexed Funds
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Edgewood Management, LLC
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US large cap, growth style equities
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Gardner, Russo & Gardner
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US And International Large Cap Value
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Hansberger Global Advisors
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International Equities
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Intermarket Corp
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Absolute Return
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Legacy Ventures
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Venture Capital
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Mellon Bank
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Fixed Income
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Metropolitan Real Estate Partners
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Real Estate
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Nyes Ledge
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Absolute Return
Long/Short Equity
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Pacific Income Management Company (PIMCO)
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Real Return Bonds (TIPS)
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Park Street Capital
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Natural Resources
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Stark Investments L.P.
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Absolute Return
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State Street Global Advisors
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International Equities
Real Assets
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The Investment Fund for Foundations (TIFF)
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Venture Capital,
Private Equity
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UBS Paine Webber
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Money Market Reserve
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Investment Opportunity for Nonprofits
Community foundations offer exceptional opportunities to nonprofits to pool their assets and attain a level of investment management and an economy of scale normally available only to much larger organizations.
The Maine Community Foundation provides this possibility by allowing nonprofits to invest their endowments in its Primary Investment Portfolio, which employs professional investment managers who are specialists in diversified sectors of the investment markets.
Nonprofit endowments can capitalize on the investment benefits of this multi-manager investment approach by working with the Foundation. Endowment Funds for Non-Profits at MaineCF
Uniform Management of Institutional Funds Act
The Maine Community Foundation adheres to the standards and practices described in the Uniform Management of Institutional Funds Act (UMIFA) passed by the Maine State Legislature in 1993. The act encourages long-term investment strategies that moderate portfolio value fluctuations resulting from sudden shifts in interest rates and market valuations.