Service Overview

Institutional Asset Management

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We focus on finances, so you can focus on the mission.

Properly protecting and growing your institution's endowment can be overwhelming and distract from the core mission. When you bring Plancorp on as your Institutional Asset Manager, we partner with your board and organization to bring industry-leading best practices that build trust amongst your key stakeholders, allowing you to grow your mission.

Certified in our fiduciary excellence, we're one of the few firms that provides a team solely dedicated to support nonprofit organizations.

 

Our Approach

Manage Your Institutional Finances with Confidence

At Plancorp, we know that managing an endowment is a heavy responsibility. That’s why we’re here to help lighten the load. We partner with the boards of numerous foundations, private schools, and other non-profits - so we not only have the expertise but also appreciate the high expectations you face as a trustee of an institution’s endowment.

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  • Defined Goals

    We’ll work side-by-side with you to design and establish an investment plan that supports your organization’s mission and goals. With clearly defined objectives, you’ll achieve long-term fiscal health of your organization’s assets under the scope of fiduciary best practices.

  • Informed Strategy

    The team you’ll work with consists of expert, dedicated professionals focused exclusively on the institutional sector. With a firsthand appreciation of your role as an investment steward, you’ll receive an investment strategy that’s backed by academic-based research and personal experience.

  • Ongoing Service

    Effective and consistent communication is the cornerstone of a successful institutional relationship. We’ll provide ongoing support by tailoring performance reviews and helping you educate your organization’s stakeholders.

The Financial Health of Your Institution

  • Client Service
  • CEFEX Certified
  • Investment Policy Statements
  • Evidence Based Investment Philosophy
  • Investment Management
  • Education
  • Reporting
  • Fiduciary Oversight
  • Client Certification
  • Socially Responsible Investing
Client Service

Client Service

Before diving in, your Client Service Consultant will create a transition schedule to efficiently direct your onboarding experience. Your Institutional Team will help assemble the correct personnel responsible for working on your investment portfolio.

CEFEX Certified

CEFEX Certified

In 2007, Plancorp became the first CEFEX-certified firm in Missouri and one of the first in the country.

Through independent fiduciary audits, we’ve earned this certification every year since.  Based on the ISO 9000 international standards on quality management and quality assurance. Practices adopted for fiduciary governance.

Fiduciary Education:

Plancorp is qualified to present fiduciary education to the board members/trustees. This confirms that the investment stewards receive the most up-to-date industry fiduciary best practices.

Investment Policy Statements

Investment Policy Statements

We’ll work side-by-side with you to design and establish an investment policy statement that supports your organization’s mission and goals. With clearly defined objectives, you’ll achieve long-term fiscal health of your organization’s assets under the scope of fiduciary best practices. Annually we will review the IPS with you to ensure that it continues to serve your organization’s needs.

Evidence Based Investment Philosophy

Evidence Based Investment Philosophy

The team you’ll work with consists of experienced, dedicated professionals focused exclusively on the institutional sector. With a firsthand appreciation of your role as an investment steward, you’ll receive a low-cost, investment strategy that is based on academic financial science-based research and personal experience.

Investment Management

Investment Management

Managing an endowment is a big responsibility. We can help ease the burden by helping you write your Investment Policy Statement (IPS). We’ll provide you with sample documents to manage your donations, gifts, valuation, and more. We are also available to help educate your donors and board members on tax efficient strategies for gifting.

Education

Education

Being successful at managing someone else’s endowment means proper education on what needs to be done. Our team will train your necessary stakeholders on fiduciary issues and your institution's portfolio.

Reporting

Reporting

Effective and consistent communication is the cornerstone of a successful institutional relationship. We’ll provide clear, concise performance reviews that speak to all stakeholders of the organization, such as the CFO, Investment Committee and Board. These reports will include comparisons to the IPS to verify that the investment guidelines are being properly followed. Our team will work with the CFO to gather documentation for the annual audit and communicate directly with the auditors.

Fiduciary Oversight

Fiduciary Oversight

We recognize and support your role as an Investment Steward and fiduciary of your organization. As a Registered Investment Advisor under the Investment Act of 1940, Plancorp is obligated to act in the best interest of our client. We share your fiduciary obligation.

Client Certification

Client Certification

Some of our clients have elected to achieve CEFEX certification for their organization. This process creates a roadmap to continually ensure that the organization is fulfilling the best fiduciary practices. The certification has assisted clients in attracting fiduciary-minded board members and supported development prospects to increase the size of their gifts.

Socially Responsible Investing

Socially Responsible Investing

If mandated by the client, Plancorp will provide an investment portfolio that complies with the USCCB SRI guidelines. Our team will monitor compliance with the guidelines and report back to the committee on a quarterly basis.

Plancorp adheres to high levels of data privacy and cybersecurity to keep your information safe. Learn more here.

DISCOVER WEALTH ALIGNMENT

The Plancorp Crafted Advantage

Without realizing it, most people are stuck in the shallows of basic financial advice. We see great financial planning like an iceberg, with most of the real story happening below the surface.

With a process perfected over 40 years to dive deep and align your wealth with your goals and values, we can craft your advantage.

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Download Our Community Foundations and Charities Whitepaper to Learn About Investment Governance

Frequently Asked Questions

How is investing as a trustee different than investing as an individual?

When you invest as a trustee, you are handling someone else’s money, making you responsible for their investment’s fiscal health.

When you are able to make or influence investment, administrative or financial decisions for a nonprofit, it is highly likely that you will be considered a fiduciary for those decisions.

How much does the performance of your portfolio matter?

Long-term performance is a vital component to the long-term success of your organization. Equally essential is establishing an investment policy statement to drive risk-appropriate returns and satisfy cash flow needs.

Plancorp will assist with creating & reviewing your investment policy statement (IPS). Our team will monitor your portfolio to ensure that it complies with your IPS.

What is a CEFEX-certified fiduciary and why should I use one to help manage my institutional assets?

A CEFEX-certified fiduciary is one who adheres to a rigorous set of best business practices. CEFEX is based on the ISO 9000 international standards on quality management and quality assurance. These practices are adopted for fiduciary governance.

 

 For more than 40 years, Plancorp has acted in our client's best interest and for the last 15 years, CEFEX has been verifying Plancorp's fiduciary responsibilities with its clients

Do I need to have a background in finance to be a successful Trustee?

No - If you don’t have a financial background, we’ll educate you every step of the way so that you can be confident you are living up to your legal fiduciary requirements as an Investment Steward.

How do you come up with your institutional investment strategies at Plancorp?

Our Investment Team conducts in-depth research. We’ve done academic-based studies of asset performance for decades through the help of research universities and renowned economists.

Our evidenced driven, low-cost, diversified investment philosophy is designed to increase your opportunity to outperform the market and concurrently meet your fiduciary requirements.

What makes you different from other institutional asset managers?

We believe in maintaining absolute transparency with our clients and always put their interests ahead of our own. As a client of Plancorp, you can be certain there are no hidden fees or agendas, just a life advocate who is looking out for what’s best for your organization.

Should I allocate my institution's assets to different asset classes?

Yes - the mix of stocks, bonds, and cash in your portfolio will dictate the range of possible outcomes and your long-term investing experience. The portfolio's allocation is articulated in your Investment Policy Statement and is the result of understanding your risk tolerance.

What security measures are in place to protect clients’ personal information?

At Plancorp, we look out for you. That's why we take important measures to protect your security. Here are a few quick facts about how we put your security first.

  • We do not have access to your account credentials. We don’t store credentials for your linked financial accounts, either.

  • Your data is encrypted at rest and in transit. Our portal requires the latest TLS (a type of digital protocol that keeps data safe) for authentication and encryption.

  • We leverage industry leading cloud platforms to keep your data and account information secure.

Read more about our cyber security efforts here.

Your Team

Not only do we have the expertise in institutional assessment management, but we also have the heart. Our team is committed to helping their communities and providing superior service both in and outside of work.

Charley Meyer, AIF®

Director of Institutional Asset Management

Meet with Charley

Matt Baisden, CFA, QKA, AIF®

Director of Corporate Retirement Planning

Meet with Matt

Patti Jones

Client Service Consultant

Meet with Patti
Fiduciary: "When someone is managing the assets of another organization and therefore stands in a special relationship of trust, confidence, and legal responsibility."

Featured Resources

We Are Thought Leaders

As a top financial advisory firm in St. Louis, we’ve been established in local circles and national news outlets as industry thought leaders. Browse our featured resources to learn more about our approach to wealth management.

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