By Alyssa Schnugg
News editor
alyssa.schnugg@hottytoddy.com
Oxford’s $30-plus million trust fund from the sale of the old Baptist hospital took a hit like most investments with the recent tanking of the stock market due to COVID-19; however, the fund remains almost $4 million above the initial investment.
On Tuesday, representatives from Glenmede Investment Group, which is handling the city’s fund, presented the year-end report to the Oxford Reserve and Trust Fund Committee. The fiscal year for the investment fund runs from April 1 to March 31.
The value of the fund as of March 31, was $33,916,589, representing an investment gain of about $11 million since its inception in 2012 that includes any withdrawals for fee payments and the annual 3 percent payout. As of May 4, 2020, the value had increased to $35,252,354.
Each year the city has received about $800,000-$887,000 from the fund, totaling almost $6 million. How much the city will receive this coming fiscal year is still unknown.
The fund was valued at $35,031,364 at the start of the fiscal year on April 1, 2019. The fund realized an investment return of -$95,846 over the last 12 months.
The fund’s long-term goals, set up by the committee, are capital preservation and real growth after inflation and the annual 3 percent payout.
As of March 31, 40 percent of the assets are allocated to equities, 60 percent is allocated to fixed income and cash. Fixed income investments are in high-quality U.S. bonds rated A or better with a tilt toward corporate bonds.
In 2012, Baptist paid the city and Lafayette County $60 million to buy the hospital so it could get out of its lease and build the new Baptist hospital that opened in November 2017. Baptist eventually sold the old facility to the University of Mississippi for $22 million. The city and county split the funds and received $30 million each.
