<h2>Financial Policies Overview</h2> <h3><br /><a href="/id0904f67a80160ede">Investment Policy</a></h3> Overall, the SIUE Foundation follows an investment policy that is conservative, prudent, and fiscally sound.&nbsp; The Board&rsquo;s Finance and Investment Committee, in accordance with the Investment Policy, works to balance the need for current funds with the need to preserve the &ldquo;buying power&rdquo; of the Foundation&rsquo;s endowments. The Foundation&rsquo;s holdings are invested according to category.&nbsp; The endowment pool and the planned giving assets are invested in both equities and fixed income instruments.&nbsp; The non-endowment pool, because of the necessity to have ready access to these funds, is only invested in fixed income instruments.<br /><br /> <h3><a href="/id0904f67a80160edf">Distribution of Earnings Policy</a></h3> Endowments preserve the principal of the gift while providing income (earnings) for a program account specified by the donor(s).&nbsp; The annual earnings from the endowments are distributed in accordance with the donor's intended purpose and the endowment account&rsquo;s classification.&nbsp; The distribution policy may be changed at the direction of the SIUE Foundation Finance and Investment Committee. <p></p> <h3>Management Fees and Retained Interest Policies</h3> An annual investment management fee of 1.25% of the market values of the endowment pool is assessed on the average balance which includes the investment management fees charged by the investment managers.&nbsp; The remainder of the management fee is used to support the general charitable purposes of the Foundation and for purposes of defraying its expenses.&nbsp; Investment income derived from the current restricted accounts on account balances is retained by the Foundation.&nbsp; Current restricted accounts do not include endowments or Charitable Gift Annuity funds. <p></p> <h3>Investment Managers</h3> The Foundation utilizes the consulting services of Mercer Consulting for the endowment investments.&nbsp; With recommendations and assistance from Mercer, endowment investments are managed by a diverse group of investment managers with Charles Schwab serving as custodian.&nbsp; Non-endowed investments are managed by TheBANK of Edwardsville Investor Group in coordination with cash flow analysis provided by the Department of Financial Affairs.&nbsp; Planned Giving investments (charitable gift annuities) are also managed by TheBANK of Edwardsville Investor Group, who is under contract as the Foundation's Planned Giving Administra