In the midst of our year-end work and celebrations, many of us can’t help but think about numbers. I asked SWIF Controller Margie Nelsen to share some of SWIF’s numbers as we look back at past years and gear up for 2012.
Enjoy and Happy New Year!
Sherry
Investing in More Than the Markets
By Margie Nelsen, SWIF’s Chief Financial Officer
The calendar year-end has quickly arrived. Southwest Initiative Foundation (SWIF), like other businesses and organizations, is in the process of wrapping up the calendar year financially.
SWIF is in its 25th year and in those years, we have seen the ups and downs along with everyone else. When SWIF was organized, the DOW hovered at around 1,900. Today, it is hovering around 12,300. When you look at the market in this perspective it shines a different light on things. I’m not discounting the trials and hardships of what we are facing today, but it shows that SWIF is here for the long haul and as such, endowments are meant for perpetuity.
We are organized to serve our mission into our future which includes those in our region that, as staff and board today, we will never meet. They are the people, neighbors, businesses, communities, leaders and children of our future. These people are as much a part of our service scope as the people we meet and talk with today. So, we invest with the intention that we will be here into perpetuity as well.
When we look back and track our investment progress, we closed our fiscal year in June ending on a positive note, bringing our average investment return rate of 8.24 percent over our 25 years. Since then, we have seen a market loss bringing our average to around 7.76 percent.
However, SWIF continues to grow not just because of the market, but because there are wonderful people that support the region we serve through us.
May you and yours have a Happy Holiday Season!
Margie
What is your organization’s, business’s or family’s outlook for 2012? Leave a comment to let us know what you’re most looking forward to in the New Year.
