Oxford’s $30M investment worth more than $34M
Published 11:55 am Thursday, July 20, 2017
At the end of the first fiscal year quarter, Oxford’s $30 million fund from the sale of Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi was worth $34,620,106.
On Tuesday, representatives from Glenmede, the investment firm handling the fund, presented the first quarter report to the Oxford Municipal Reserve and Trust Fund Committee. The fiscal year for the fund runs from April 1 to March 31.
Since its inception in 2012, the fund has had a net investment return of almost $8 million, which includes the 3 percent pay off the city has received each year, which has averaged about $875,000 a year with a total amount of $3,296,331. Those funds go into the city’s general fund that has helped pay for a variety of city projects and large pieces of equipment and vehicles.
The fund’s long-terms goals, set up by the committee, are capital preservation and real growth after inflation, about 2.5 percent, and the annual 3 percent payoff.
The fund has returned 4.8 percent over the last year and 5.2 percent annually since 2012.
From April 1, 2016 to March 31, the fund earned $2,051,671
As of March 31, 38 percent of the assets are allocated to equities, 55 percent are allocated to fixed income, and 4 percent is allocated to cash. In equities, 66 percent is allocated to large-cap, 9 percent to small cap and 25 percent to international.
Volatility has been low
Glenmede is instructed to try to grow the fund enough to allow for annual payouts but to do so in a conservative fashion as to not risk losing the initial $30 million investment. The fund is a moderately low-risk investment, according to Glenmede.
Asset allocation as of June 30 has five percent in cash, 57 percent in fixed income and 38 percent in equities.
John Church, with Glenmede, said the markets haven’t seen much volatility recently but says that could change at any time.
“This is a period of time that has low volatility,” he said Tuesday. “There’s a lot of questions out there as to what’s going to happen as far the political agenda in Washington goes and the global stage goes. This is a time where we’re taking profits and at the same time, staying prudent and within the guidelines and almost making sure we are not extending ourselves. If volatility does come, and we see a dip in the markets, we want to make sure we’re prepared for that.”
The top 10 holdings in the equity portfolio include Johnson & Johnson, JP Morgan Chase and Co., Pfizer Inc., Bank of New York Mellon Corp., Ameriprise Financial, Eaton Corp PLC Ordinary, Principal Financial Group, Western Digital, Anthem and Tyson Foods, Inc.