Have You Been Concerned about the Economy?

The following is a reprint of the JCF's Money Matters column, published in the April 15, 2026, issue of the Jewish Community Voice, titled "Have you been concerned about the economy?":

As an organization, the Jewish Community Foundation, Inc. manages endowment funds and donor advised funds on behalf of the community, and so we are tightly entwined with the world of investing and various economic indicators.

However, while the JCF Board of Trustees and staff pay close attention to economic trends, candidly, we “don’t lose sleep” when values are falling or “pop a champagne cork” when values rise. Why? We are in it for the long haul and recognize that there will be economic ebbs and flows, but over forthcoming decades, we invest expecting steady growth.

Here is an overview of how we operate in terms of investments:

The JCF has partnered with SEI, based in Oaks, PA, for over 20 years, and they manage our investments, serving as our Outsourced Chief Investment Officer.

Working closely with SEI is our Investment Committee, which is chaired by Stan Cooper and David Ostrum and consists of more than a dozen financial professionals who volunteer their time to help ensure our investments are properly managed. We thank these dedicated individuals for sharing their expertise.

As a snapshot in time, at the close of our last fiscal year (9/30/25), the JCF held over $49-million across a sum of more than 600 endowment funds and donor advised funds established by individuals and organizations. As recently as February, this total had increased to over $52-million, so the value fluctuates regularly based on money contributed to our funds, investment returns on those funds, and money paid out from these funds to benefit hundreds of charitable causes each year.

Following each quarter’s close, our Investment Committee meets with SEI representatives to analyze the portfolio’s performance and address any potential concerns or recommended adjustments to be made to these investments. By and large, our committee makes only modest, gradual tweaks to the diverse investment vehicles that we utilize.

Currently, our endowment fund portfolio consists of approximately 66% in equities (about 65% of which are U.S. companies, while 35% are companies based outside of the U.S.), 31% in fixed income (including Israel Bonds), and 3% in alternative investments (such as structured credit).

Over the past 10 years, the JCF’s investment returns have grown 9.09% annually (net of investment fees), despite several downturns in the economy.

Compared to over 400 other foundations and community foundations across the country, the JCF’s investment returns have landed well within the top 25% over the past one, three, five, seven, and 10 years. For this accomplishment, we are especially grateful to SEI and our Investment Committee for establishing a portfolio that successfully continues to grow at a steady pace.

Currently, economic indicators, including various stock indices such as the S&P 500, the unemployment rate, and Gross Domestic Product (GDP) seem to be facing “headwinds,” and while that could be daunting and result in suppressed or even negative returns for a certain period of time, the JCF remains confident that over the long run of multiple years, our diversified portfolio will hold up well.

For our endowment funds, over the past two years, we have modified our payout formula, calculating the annual payout using a rolling 12-quarter average value of the fund, to smooth out the portfolio’s ups and downs.

Looking ahead, we continually evaluate whether our annual 5% endowment fund payout amount should remain in place, or if we should consider implementing or recommending a reduced amount, to draw less and enable the funds to increase over the longer term.

Questions about JCF’s investments? Please contact me at (856) 673-2571 or dsnyder@jfedsnj.org

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