Investment Fund

Objective

The primary objective of the Fund is to preserve and enhance its real (inflation-adjusted) purchasing power while providing a relatively predictable, stable, and constant (in real terms) stream of earnings for current use. To accomplish this goal, the Fund is invested primarily in Capital Appreciation (equity-related) investments, both in public and private markets. In addition, the Fund holds a set of volatility / risk reducing strategies: deflation hedging, inflation sensitive, and diversifiers.

Investment Fund Board

In 1985 the Chancellor appointed a University of North Carolina at Greensboro Investment Fund (UIF) and charged it with the general responsibility for management of investments subject to the formal delegation for all the University and the University Foundations. The principal activities of the Corporation shall be to accept the transfer of assets which benefit UNCG and to manage the investments of those assets. The UIF meets at least quarterly each year to discuss the investment portfolio.

Endowment Overview

An endowment fund is a permanent, self-sustaining source of funding. Under donor restrictions, the University is unable to spend the principal (original gift) of the endowment but it can spend the “income” that is generated through the investment of the gift in earnings.

Donors may restrict the purposes for which endowment “income” can be spent. The purpose could be to support a professorship, to fund lectureships or scholarships, or for general use at the discretion of the University. The terms of an endowment are documented in a formal endowment agreement that is executed by both the donor and the University. University Advancement is the holder of these agreements. The University has a legal, as well as an ethical, obligation to a donor to continually administer the endowment and all distributions in accordance with the terms of the agreement.

The sum of each endowment fund creates a form of permanent capital for the university. This provides funding to support the mission of the university and lends fiscal stability. The endowed funds are invested. The funds are invested by “buying shares” in UNCG’s Investment Fund. The University’s Investment Fund (UIF) is administered by an external investment firm. The investment pool is a diversified fund comprised of equities, fixed income, commodities, various specialized investments and cash designed to ensure that future growth is sufficient to offset normal inflation plus reasonable spending. The University’s Investment Fund is managed by the University Investment Fund Board. The Board attempts to provide a relatively predictable, stable, and constant (in real terms) spending stream to support budgetary needs.