Easton Episcopal FundsMonthly Archives: June 2021
Message from the Vice Chair, June ’21
Why do we do what we do? The short answer is: To benefit the missions of the parishes and diocese whose money we invest. And we are pleased to report some pretty good returns.
Read MoreAccess and Forms
Easton Episcopal Funds accounts are managed by Mutual Shareholder Services (MSS). If you are a shareholder, your current balances as well as historical transactions in your account may be viewed by following the link below to MSS. Choose “Easton Episcopal…
Read MoreThe Balanced Fund
The Easton Episcopal Balanced Fund was established on March 31, 2010. The Balanced Fund, which is comprised of equities, fixed income and some carefully selected income-producing investments, was the most efficient and by far the most popular with our investors. This structure simplified choice for our investors. It also simplified accounting, which helps to keep costs low.
Read MoreMorningstar X-Ray
The June 4 report reflects a recent decision by the Board to reallocate a portion of the fixed income account, some to a ladder of target maturity ETF bond funds, and some to high-yield (click ti read more)
Read MoreMembers of the Board
Current voting members of the Board are Rt. Rev. Santosh K. Murray (Chair), W. Christopher Maxwell (Vice Chair), Deborah Dragone, Raymond J. Munsch, Ronald Geesey, Tom Mehdenhall, and William Shettle.
Read MoreFund Continues to Advance in April
The overall portfolio, calculated by Morningstar, for the period January 1 – April 15, 2021 advanced 7.09%. (Click to read more)
Read MoreMessage from the Vice Chair, Jan. ’21
Despite Difficult Year, Fund Returns 15.58% in 2020. Last year was difficult. The first six weeks of 2020 was business as usual, but by mid-February,
Covid-19 had begun to affect our lives, the economy and the stock market. Initially, we didn’t know how severe the downturn would be or how long it would last. For 31 calendar days until March 23, the stock market went down. The S&P 500 was down more than 33%, although your fund was down 25%, a success of sorts.
Portfolio Coordinator’s Report, April ’21
Since our last meeting, the Biden administration has left the starting line with its pedal to the metal …
Read MoreAn Indexed Approach to Investing
The Easton Episcopal Balanced Fund is managed for the benefit of the Diocese and parishes and other entities who are a part of the Diocese of Easton. It is currently a moderate allocation (50-70% equity) mix of U.S. Equities, Foreign Equity, and Fixed Income. The investment positions for each of these classes are actively or passively managed index funds with low expenses. The performance of the Fund is measured against a benchmark of 52% total US stock market as represented by the Russel 3000 index, 13% foreign equity as represented by MSCI ACWI ex USA and a 35% fixed income allocation represented by Barclays Intermediate Credit Fund. The Board of Managers from time to time sets or adjusts tactical targets for each of these classes based on their opinions of market conditions. The fund is re-balanced quarterly. The Board also chooses the specific mutual funds or exchange traded funds to invest in these categories; these choices may also change over time.
Read MoreFrom the Report to Convention
We believe that performance should be measured using a rolling three-year calculation, which
offers a more accurate measure over time than one short-term uptick or downturn. Using this
calculation, our rankings were quite low in our beginning years when our assets were managed by
outside advisors. March 2013 was the end of the first three-year period for the Easton Episcopal
Funds. Unfortunately, each of our outside managers failed to meet either the Board’s clearly
expressed expectations or their own performance projections. Since none were able to meet their targets, we ended contracts with outside managers in 2013, 2015, and 2016.