Foundation Policies & Procedures

Will be professionally managed ...

• By the full-time professional staff of the Foundation
• In compliance with generally accepted accounting principles, Financial Accounting Standards Board guidelines, and appropriate United States and State of Texas Laws and regulatory policies
• In accord with written Foundation policies and procedures adopted by the Board of Directors of the Foundation

Has a Memorandum of Understanding ...

• The guiding document signed by the donor, the President of the University, and the Chairman of the Board of the Foundation
• That specifies all program intentions and instructions from the donor
• That commits the University and the Foundation to manage and utilize the fund in the manner described in perpetuity
• That may not be changed without the written permission of the donor and the other institutional representatives
• A copy of which is given to you to be maintained with your permanent records

Will be accounted for independently of any other account ...

• Utilizing the Foundation's state-of-the-art fund-accounting and database management systems
• With all transactions for this account kept separate from those of any other account
• Monitored annually through an external audit performed by a public CPA firm

Will have a designated Account Holder ...

• The University faculty or staff person that receives the quarterly statements and requests funds from the Foundation based on this report
• Who uses the Disbursement Authorization form to request funds to be moved from the Foundation account to the appropriate University account(s) (if automatic distributions are not selected)
• Who is responsible for applying distributions from the account to the programs to be supported, as specified in the Memorandum of Understanding
• Who maintains all of the program information (scholarship recipients, research activities, faculty support, etc.) and communicates this to the donor appropriately

Will be added to a pool of funds invested in a balanced portfolio ...

• Consisting of a diversified array of actively managed securities
• Under the supervision of the members of the Investment Committee of the Board
• That will have short-term market fluctuations in value, yet will retain the long-term goal of returning a stable flow of income annually

Will have quarterly activity statements ...

• That are available at the secure UNT website
• That reflect the monthly income, gifts, transfers, and any distributions that have affected the account during the past calendar quarter
• Which will show the monthly management fee

Will have quarterly distributions ...

• That are made in accord with the Texas Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act
• That are made available to the Account Holder for the program's designated purpose
• That are calculated on a percentage of the average total market value of the fund over the trailing twelve-quarter time period
• That are based on an endowment management model developed by the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants

All information for this account is available to the Account Holder, Proxy, Information Proxy, and head of the academic division, from the UNT Foundation office.

Account Holders may direct that no automatic distributions occur and that all distributions shall be initiated by the Account Holder’s use of individual Disbursement Authorization forms.

Named Account Holders and their Account Proxies on file with the Foundation are the only individuals authorized to request distributions from Foundation accounts. Withdrawals of distribution amounts are available (1) after the minimum endowment level has been achieved through gifts and permanently reinvested amounts, and (2) after having reached the minimum endowment level for one (1) full calendar quarter, and (3) in accord with the Memorandum of Understanding for the account.

Funds from Operating, Quasi-endowed, and those accounts where the Account Holder has directed that no automatic distributions occur, should utilize the Disbursement Authorization form supplied by the Foundation (also found below). The blank form may be reproduced by the Account Holder as needed. An original signature of the Account Holder is required on this form for each individual request; email submissions of this form are not accepted.

Our consultants and their clients rely heavily on our Research Division to provide deep and informative proprietary research, asset allocation models, and a stable of "best of breed" managers across multiple asset classes to help engineer portfolio designs that meet the unique and diverse objectives of our clients. But research expertise expands far beyond theory, reporting, and manager performance.

Under the watchful eye of our Chief Investment Officer, we have a host of seasoned Directors responsible for engineering and managing direct alternative investment opportunities. For more than two decades, we have committed ourselves to the "highest level of care" in the protection and growth of our clients assets.

Hammond Associates is a wholly owned subsidiary of Mercer Investment Consulting, Inc.
www.mercer.com

Foundations are among our longest-standing clients. Hammond Associates has an experienced professional Consulting staff, the members of which are proficient at supporting Foundation staff and Board members in assessing the Foundation’s distribution requirements, goals, and tolerance for risk, and matching these to realistic estimates of investment returns.  Our Research Group statistically analyzes these parameters to develop a set of feasible investment strategies, which are used to project an array of potential outcomes. From these data a client institution can choose an effective, sustainable investment strategy suited to its specific set of needs.

Hammond Associates specializes in an educational approach to investment consulting, in which we work to instruct our clients in the opportunities that exist in the real world of financial market. And our clients instruct us in their needs, their goals, and their willingness to invest. We put this mutually learned knowledge to work in a sound, robust investment strategy that is based on the best abstract research, but adapted for the real world.

About Our Fund Managers