Baptist Fund Earns Close to $10M for Oxford Since 2012

By Alyssa Schnugg
Staff writer
alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com

The $30-plus million investment from the sale of Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi has earned almost $10 million.

On Tuesday, representatives from Glenmede Investment Group, which is handling the city’s fund, presented the second quarter report to the Oxford Reserve and Trust Fund Committee. The fiscal year for the investment fund runs from April 1 to March 31.

Oxford’s $30 million investment from the sale of the former Baptist Memorial Hospital-North Mississippi pictured here has earned almost $10 million since its inception in 2012. Photo by Steven Gagliano.

The value of the fund as of July 31, was $35,608,289. However, as of Monday, the fund was valued at $35,745,000, representing a net investment gain of about $9,940,000 that includes any withdrawals for fee payments and the annual 3 percent payout to the city of Oxford that goes into the city’s general fund to help fund a variety of projects.

Each year the city has received about $850,000 from the fund.

The fund’s long-term goals, set up by the committee, are capital preservation and real growth after inflation and the annual 3 percent payoff.

Glenmede is instructed to try to grow the fund enough to allow for annual payouts but to do so in a conservative fashion as to not risk losing the initial $30 million investment. The fund is a moderately low-risk investment.

John Church of Glenmede told the trustees that there is a low risk for a recession in the next 12 months and he expects the fund to do well for the rest of the fiscal year.

“The economy is chugging along slowly but growth is there,” he said.

As of July 31, 37 percent of the assets are allocated to equities, 59 percent are allocated to fixed income, and 4 percent is allocated to cash.

The top 10 holdings in the equity portfolio include Cisco Systems, Exxon Mobile, Pfilzer Inc., Bank of America Corp., Anthem Inc., Intel Corp., Valero Energy Group, Target Corp., Ameriprise Financial Inc., and the Chevron Corporation.