Investment Options

As the fiduciary for charitable funds, the Foundation is responsible for ensuring than an investment strategy is aligned with the charitable purposes and philanthropic goals of each donor. To enhance efficiency and reduce the cost of operations, contributions to funds are pooled with donations from other donors for investment management and administrative purposes. Upon creating a fund, the Foundation assigns it to one of the following pools:

Endowment Pool: invested for long-term growth with various investment managers. The targeted asset allocation of this pool is 51% equities; 25% fixed-income, 12% commodities & real estate and 12% cash. To read more about the 2009 investment performance, view the 2009 Annual Report.  The Foundation employs a third-party consultant to assist with asset allocation and conducts quarterly reviews with the Investment Committee to review the most up-to-date strategies.

Non-endowed Pool: designed for funds with short-term purposes or goals. Funds are generally desposited in a money market  account with a goal of principal preservation and income generation.

For funds over $1 million, donors may recommend their own money manager subject to Investment Committee approval and manager acceptance of GNOF Investment Policy.