Investment Portfolios
Whatever portfolio supports your charitable fund, you can be confident local experts are stewarding your philanthropic assets with care.
Grow Your Impact
The Sacramento Region Community Foundation is known for financial strength and sound investment strategies. Our experienced Investment Committee and world-class investment managers manage $275 million in philanthropic assets, aiming to increase the philanthropic resources available to our fundholders and the Sacramento region.
When you give through the Sacramento Region Community Foundation, your philanthropic assets are invested in the portfolio you choose to suit your grantmaking goals.
All investments are overseen by our experienced Investment Committee and reported to your via regular fund statements accessible in the donor portal.
Endowed Portfolio
Assets in endowed charitable funds are invested to provide an annual amount that will be spent for charitable purposes in perpetuity. The endowed investment pool is an actively managed perpetual fund; the investment management fee for the endowed pool is 1%.
Goals: To earn a sufficient long term return with little to no volatility as possible to preserve the purchasing power of the assets, after annual grants of 4% and annual support fees and cost of living increases.
Spending Policy: Endowed fundholders may choose to make an annual distribution of 4% of the fund’s balance, averaged over the previous 12 quarters. Fundholders may also choose to reinvest that amount into the corpus for continued growth.
Investment Philosophy: The Foundation has adopted a Strategic Asset Allocation Strategy that best balances the opportunity for achieving investment return objectives with an acceptable volatility level. There is significant evidence that long-term investors do not benefit from attempting to earn returns through short-term asset class forecasts or market timing. While each asset class and strategy is carefully selected, the focus of the investment is always on the overall portfolio.
Endowed Asset Allocations: The Portfolio is amply diversified across various asset classes and strategies, and results of each asset manager are reviewed quarterly by the Investment Committee. Areas of investment include:
US Large/Mid Cap Equity (15%)
US Small Cap Equity (6%)
International Equity (15%)
Emerging Markets (6%)
Select Strategies (19%)
Core Fixed Income (10%)
US Short Term Bonds (3%)
Hedged Funds (11%)
Natural Resources (1.5%)
Real Estate (1.5%)
Private Equity (11%)
Cash and Equivalents (1%)
Results
Endowed portfolio results are reported net of investment management fees for the period ending March 31, 2026. The endowed investment pool is an actively managed perpetual fund.
| 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 7 Years | 10 Years | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Foundation Endowment Portfolio | 10.8% | 10.7% | 5.3% | 8.0% | 8.3% |
| Endowment Benchmark | 16.4% | 12.2% | 7.5% | 9.3% | 8.9% |
Expendable Portfolios
Donors who choose to spend down their charitable funds rather than permanently endow the assets have the option of selecting an investment pool that closely matches their timing for making grants. Donors can opt to change pools once per year by contacting us. The estimated investment management fees for expendable pools are noted below.
Short Term Pool: Provides a high level of liquidity for fundholders with short term grant making strategies (1-3 years). The investment management fee for this pool is 0.15%.
US Short Term Bonds (50%)
Money Market (50%)
Intermediate Term Pool: Balances mild liquidity needs with a reasonable level of expected appreciation over full market cycles (3-5 years). The investment management fee for this pool is 0.17%.
US Large Cap (15%)
US Small Cap (4%)
International Equity (13%)
Emerging Markets (5%)
US Core Bonds (23%)
US Short Term Bonds (40%)
Long Term Pool: Mirrors the Endowment investment strategy as closely as possible with the intention of maintaining assets within the pool for a longer time frame (over 5 years). The investment management fee for this pool is 0.18%.
US Large Cap (30%)
US Small Cap (6%)
International Equity (26%)
Emerging Markets (8%)
US Core Bonds (15%)
US Short Term Bonds (15%)
Results
Results for expendable pools are reported net of investment management fees for the period ending March 31, 2026. Pool selection is based on the donor’s grant horizon.
| 1 Year | 3 Years | 5 Years | 7 Years | 10 Years | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Short Term Pool | 4.1% | 4.4% | 2.4% | 2.4% | 2.0% |
| Intermediate Term Pool | 10.5% | 8.6% | 4.3% | 5.3% | 5.2% |
| Long Term Pool | 16.5% | 12.8% | 6.6% | 8.6 | 8.5% |
All investment options carry varying degrees of risk, illustrated relative to each other below:
Investment management fees noted above reflect the fees charged by investment managers and Crewcial Partners LLC. They are separate from the Sacramento Region Community Foundation’s Support Fee.
We’re always happy to answer questions about investment philosophies, portfolios, and returns. Schedule a meeting to get started and contact us at any time with questions.
Our investments are pooled and our donors have the option to choose from various offerings. Each of these pools has a distinct expected return and risk level. Over time, higher risk pools are expected to generate higher returns; they are also subject to larger short to intermediate term declines. Which pool is best for each donor is the one that is most closely aligned with that donor’s philanthropic time horizon.
Our investment pools are oriented towards consistency as it relates to strategy and risk assumption. While it can feel uncomfortable at times, our approach relies on the idea that bear markets end as suddenly and unexpectedly as they arrive. Furthermore, extremely pessimistic pricing can selectively take hold during such times and provide outsized opportunities that combine unusually large prospective gains and limited durable downside. Our view is that long-term investment success depends, in part, on capturing these opportunities. Therefore, our investment strategy during bear markets differs little from our investment strategy during other times.
Yes. Fundholders with expendable funds are able to change their investment pools once a year. To get started, please contact your Philanthropy Team.
Investment Committee
With their decades of expertise, our Investment Committee drives asset management and investment growth to meet fund objectives. The Investment Committee:
Protects the corpus of the Foundation’s philanthropic assets
Preserves the spending power of the income from the fund
Maintains a diversified portfolio of assets to meet investment objectives
Complies with applicable law
Investment Expertise
The Investment Committee retained Crewcial Partners LLC of New York in 2007 to monitor the investment performance of individual managers and to advise the Committee on investment strategy, asset allocation and manager selection. The firm’s focus is on advising nonprofit organizations. Crewcial advises over 100 clients, more than 20 of which are community foundations, with total firm assets under advisement of $29 billion. Regional community foundation clients include Silicon Valley Community Foundation, Marin Community Foundation, and The San Francisco Foundation.
First Quarter 2026
From our investment consultant, Crewcial Partners LLC
The first quarter of 2026 was challenging for global equity markets. Challenges for software equities were triggered by AI dominating the first half of the quarter, while the war in Iran dominated the second half.
The S&P 500 declined 4.3% for the quarter, while international developed markets held up comparatively better, with the MSCI EAFE falling 1.2%. Emerging markets were roughly flat. Fixed income provided modest ballast, with the Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Index also flat for the quarter. Against this backdrop, the Endowment portfolio declined for the quarter, though it outperformed U.S. large-cap equities.
Specifically, the Sacramento Region Community Foundation’s Endowment declined 3.9% for the quarter, trailing the target benchmark by 300 basis points. The Endowment’s 3-year return of 10.7% is ahead of the CPI + 5.25% goal of 8.3% over the same period, supporting the Foundation’s spending power over the medium term.
Additionally, the Foundation’s performance over all time periods is either in the first or second quartile relative to its peer universe. While the last twelve months have been challenging as compared to the benchmark, there are a number of unrecognized gains brewing in the private asset portfolio. Furthermore, we are confident that the portfolio is being positioned to capitalize in areas where the market is overreacting.
The performance (ending December 31, 2025) of each expendable investment pool remained generally consistent with our expectations given market conditions.
For more information, contact Naomi Wilson, Chief Financial Officer, at naomi@sacregcf.org or (916) 921-7723.
Contact Us
We invite questions about investment strategies and results, your fund statement, and ways we can help you achieve your philanthropic goals.
