Foundations & Endowments

With a long heritage of non-profit and endowment experience, WoodTrust is dedicated to helping non-profit organizations advance in their missions.

The WoodTrust Investment Committee is a group of professionals who possess extensive experience and expertise, which they bring to bear when working with clients. The team is made up of individuals with varying backgrounds and specialties, all of whom share a commitment to upholding a disciplined investment program and promoting a culture of collaboration. Regular communication and a strong emphasis on teamwork ensure that clients of WoodTrust have access to the combined knowledge and expertise of the entire team, and can depend on receiving personalized guidance to help them reach their financial objectives.

The WoodTrust team provides a full-service suite of solutions tailored for foundations and endowments. This includes, but is not limited to:

• Nearly a half-century of non-profit experience
• A dedicated team focused on the unique objectives of foundations and endowments
• Comprehensive Investment Policy Statement designs
• Customized portfolios and strategic asset allocations
• Disciplined investment research and portfolio construction
• Dedicated services: regular monitoring, meetings, and board education

Investment Management

The institutional research, selection, and due diligence process has evolved to form a distinct set of beliefs, each with our client’s best interests in mind. WoodTrust’s investment philosophy and research process is rooted in five major tenets:

• The Client is Number One
  For a client to achieve financial success, WoodTrust must be committed to the client’s goals and objectives.  The process of investing client dollars has rapidly evolved. A proactive approach to establishing client expectations, creating and managing a customized portfolio, and focusing on transaction integrity helps build strong client relationships over time.
• Conflicts of Interest Erode Trust
  When investment products compensate the decision makers, it is unlikely those decision makers will have the client’s best interest in mind.  It is critical that the investment selection process solely serves the best interest of clients.
• Asset Allocation is the Greatest Determinant of Risk
  Managing around an appropriate asset allocation strategy, especially in periods of market volatility, can add significant value.  Multiple empirical studies have concluded that asset allocation and the utilization of strategic systematic risk exposures play a pivotal role in the performance and risk embedded in a portfolio.
• Long-Term Focus Beats Short-Term Market Timing
  Over time, security valuations reflect the underlying strength and earnings power of the businesses behind them. We understand this. During periods of extreme uncertainty and market turmoil, investors often make impatient, emotional decisions that undermine their ability to reach their long-term investment and financial goals.
• Active and Index Strategies Work Together
  Active and Index (passive) strategies complement each other by broadening the opportunity set available to investors, mitigating risk and driving investment outcomes over longer time horizons. Active strategies rely on analytical research, forecasts and manager judgment and experience in making investment decisions on what securities to buy, hold, and sell. Index strategies mirror a market index. These indices are typically market-cap weighted, resulting in a strategy that performs well in certain momentum-based environments.

The WoodTrust investment process offers clear solutions, with critical evaluation from experienced and credentialed investment professionals who will set you on a path toward meeting your investment goals. This independent and team-oriented process focuses on producing competitive, risk-controlled results through a fiduciary perspective where client interests always come first.

Custody Services

WoodTrust provides a comprehensive range of global custody services to ensure our clients’ assets are well-protected and that investment and cash positions are accurately recorded and processed.

WoodTrust can offer full custody, safekeeping, and reporting solutions that include investment portfolio record-keeping and affiliated administrative services. These services ensure that dividend, interest, and capital gain income is promptly posted to accounts; cash receipts are swept daily into the selected money market vehicles; capital changes and corporate negotiations are posted to accounts; tax summaries are provided annually to report investment income and capital gains/losses; proxies are voted on the client’s behalf, and regular income remittances are provided, if desired. In addition, WoodTrust can provide customized reporting, performance measurement, and portfolio analysis solutions.