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United Capital, a division of United Capital Financial Advisers, Inc., provides an independent end-to-end investment solution focused specifically on meeting the needs of nonprofit organizations. We commonly find that we are distinctive in three ways. First, we bring a relentless discipline to what we believe are the Four Vital Elements of Portfolio Management. Second, we offer Fiduciary Thought Leadership and clarity that is necessary when managing trusts, annuities, endowments, pensions and other assets that have been entrusted by those who support and serve your organization. Finally, we specialize in Meeting the Unique Needs of Nonprofit Organizations. In this way, we help our clients successfully navigate their fiduciary responsibility.

Four Vital Elements of Portfolio Management

Customized Portfolio Construction

We believe this important process has two distinct phases, the Assessment Phase and the Design Phase. In the Assessment Phase our objective is to gain a thorough understanding of your organization’s culture as well as your short and long term objectives. In this first phase, we develop or further customize the Investment Policy Statement which creates the foundation of our investment plan. Then in the Design Phase, we focus on creating the right mix of investments (tactical allocation) within the guidelines, which we believe are best suited to achieve the short and long term goals established in the Investment Policy Statement.

We believe your investment team must have both an understanding of the unique needs of nonprofit organizations, as well as the ability and track record to make timely strategic investment decisions to protect and grow your portfolio. In our experience, it takes vigilant, ongoing attention to changes in market trends to identify situations that represent opportunity or risk to your portfolio. Furthermore, it requires rapid “time-to-decision” to exploit those market opportunities. United Capital has both extensive and diverse experience to draw upon to process market data, assemble the relevant information and make purposeful recommendations to our clients. We currently play this key role with a broad mix of nonprofit institutions ranging from church denominations to universities.

Dynamic Deployment of Specialist Money Managers

We believe manager selection is one of the key ingredients of an effective end-to-end portfolio management process. Selecting the right manager(s) is a multi-dimensional process that not only looks at performance but also at a manager’s competency/discipline, consistency, risk profile, and their impact on correlation within the portfolio. Therefore, it is imperative that your investment partner is able to select from the broadest universe of available managers and funds. Furthermore, they must have a process by which they identify those managers, which is not driven or influenced by the home office or corporate agendas. Our team has access to the research of United Capital Financial Advisers, Inc and the open architecture of Charles Schwab & Co Inc to provide our clients with what we believe is a stronger and more diverse set of managers. We are also able to obtain “institutional class” pricing on most of the funds we select. Additionally, we are able to apply moral filters and other investment criteria to separately managed accounts as needed and desired by our clients.

Rigorous Attention to Money Manager Execution and Results

As vital as the dynamic selection of the right money managers, it is equally important to pay rigorous attention to the execution and results of those managers. Investment Managers must be regularly evaluated and monitored. If they begin to change their approach in a manner inconsistent with the style that prompted their hire, or if their performance declines relative to their peers, it may be necessary to replace them. This takes a consistent, disciplined approach to monitor the subjective and objective changes, and then make the right decisions quickly. Many advisers select managers but seldom have a discipline in place to objectively monitor success. At United Capital we have a team of experts that have developed a rigorous protocol that monitor our selected managers on a daily basis. Leveraging our experience, access to managers, and proprietary customized software, we have clear visibility into the trading activity and are able to respond immediately to changes that are cause for concern.

Complete Visibility of Results Through Clear Reporting

On many occasions we have heard the frustration which results when the Trustees, Boards, or Investment Committees of organizations are unable to fully understand all aspects of their investment performance. In several cases we have seen internal management create customized reports to clarify and restate data provided by their investment adviser in order to comprehend results. This kind of responsibility drift can lead to fiduciary compliance problems that are not easily identified and result in unknown and unintended liability to the organization. At United Capital, our proprietary customized reporting is clear, concise and facilitates the Best Practices that are necessary in today’s increasingly intense regulatory environment. Our approach is a four factor monitoring model designed to keep fiduciaries fully informed on portfolio performance. Specifically our reporting includes clarity and transparency on four fronts:

Fiduciary Thought Leadership

First and foremost, we are committed to helping facilitate Best Practices within the organizations with whom we work. This is paramount in today’s environment of increasing donor expectations and regulatory scrutiny. There are three primary Best Practices components that we help our clients address:

Board Education

There is an increased desire to be educated on the objective and important matters that help nonprofit leaders cut through the fog of data and headlines created by the marketplace and the media. From the beginning we have been committed to improve the competency and awareness of the teams to which we report. Many Boards and Investment Committees desire to stay informed of the latest developments and trends in the investment world. As it relates to Best Practices, we regularly update our clients on the issues that matter. For instance, there is much discussion today around the topic of socially responsible investing (SRI). Additionally, there are many questions about just how much Sarbanes-Oxley* legislation will impact the nonprofit community. There is also a desire to simply be educated on the objective economic data that helps ministry leaders cut through the fog of information served up by today’s media. We are committed to providing our clients with the information and answers that help them stay informed and run their organizations with the utmost integrity.

Reporting

United Capital reporting is designed to bring clarity and measurability to the reader. Quarterly reporting follows strict guidelines to help board members meet their fiduciary responsibility. Economic updates, compiled from an extensive network of internal and external resources, are also provided, under girding existing and emerging strategies. We also provide online access, specifically tailored to executives, planned giving professionals, accounting staff and engaged donors. This access provides relevant data in presentation format or in download format with daily valuations. United Capital continues to add innovative reporting, analytical tools, and other resources which ultimately enhances the decision making capabilities of the fiduciaries we serve.

Investment Policy Compliance

In our quarterly performance report, we provide our clients with an Investment Policy oversight report. Regular monitoring of compliance with the investment policies is absolutely necessary to limit liability. Poor investment performance alone does not necessarily create liability for an organization. However, poor performance in the absence of a prudent investment policy statement or in non-compliance with existing policies, almost certainly will.


Meeting the Unique Needs of Nonprofit Organizations

Nonprofits are born out of great passion, need or calling. Our goal is to provide the investment programs and leadership that can help you realize a greater impact. We have been committed to helping nonprofits accomplish this goal for over 15 years. We have developed specialty knowledge across a spectrum of investment programs unique to nonprofit organizations including gift annuity programs, donor advised funds, charitable remainder/lead trusts, endowments, and/or scholarship programs to name a few. Our team offers concrete solutions to facilitate that growth. Whether it is our decision making tools, technology, strategies or compliance guidelines necessary to facilitate a well managed planned giving program, your organization will gain confidence in your donors’ eyes with less burden on your financial professionals. You can also gain confidence in knowing we will endeavor to maintain the alignment between your investment strategy and the values, objectives and callings that are distinct to your organization. We are inspired and excited for the chance to help create, protect and release financial resources to your organization.

Recap of Our Strengths

The strengths and distinctive abilities of our firm can be summarized by three key points: