The Board of Trustees has experienced
a somewhat quiet year, but has met on a few occasions to review our
investments and to stay up to date on the activities with the Building
and Development Committee.
We hosted a meeting last June with Alison Parry, portfolio manager at
Philips Hager and North (PHN). The regular church board was invited to
attend. Also attending was Syd Lewis of the Vancouver Burrard
Presbytery. Alison reviewed our investment portfolio along with our
investment goals and polices. She answered many questions.
The meeting also received a full update on the discussions taking place
at the Building and Development Committee. This is because a primary
area of responsibility for the trustees is property.
Following a request of the Finance Committee (endorsed by the regular
church board), the Board of Trustees established a term deposit at the
Royal Bank Squamish in the amount of $20,000. We then permitted these
funds to be used as collateral for a line of credit on our general
church banking account. This replaces the old system of borrowing funds
from our building account when we were in a pinch.
Individual trustees are hearing a great deal from congregation members
concerning the policies and affairs of the Board of Trustees in
relation to our investment account (funds from the sale of the manse).
The Board is very conscious of the fact that there are concerns
specifically related to (i) where our money is invested, (ii) why
aren’t we aiming for a higher rate of return, and perhaps the most oft
asked question ,,,,,, (iii) why we can’t spend more of our earnings on
operating expenses. The Board would to take this opportunity to address
each question. However, let me state first that we are pleased that
members of our congregation are taking an interest in these affairs,
and we will continue to look forward to your feedback and suggestions.
In addition, we can always use some additional help at the trustee
table if anyone is interested.
QUESTION
(i) – Where is our money invested?
Answer – The money is invested with Philips Hager North, a highly
regarded investment firm in Vancouver.
(ii) – Why aren’t we aiming for a higher rate of return?
Answer - On advice from both presbytery and George Morfitt (retired
auditor general) we chose to be conservative in our investments because
we can’t afford to take any big risks.
(iii) – Why can’t we spend more of our earnings on operating expenses?
Answer – We have to be careful. The primary purpose of our investment
fund is to provide a perpetual housing allowance for our minister. We
are experiencing a great deal of inflation in the housing market at
present. The only prudent thing to do is make sure we have set aside
enough in order to take this inflation into account. At present we are
contributing funds to our operating account for such things as
insurance and accounting. The operating items we fund have to relate to
property or banking or investments in order to pass muster with
presbytery. With respect to presbytery, they have permitted us to
visualize spending some of our funds on capital programs that
contribute to our mission. We fully anticipate that this will become
clearer as the planning and development committee completes their work.
In closing, the Board of Trustees believes it would be healthy to get a
consensus from the congregation on the direction we want to go with
respect to our investment funds. We want to encourage dialogue and get
a common direction.