jcfc-agm-minutes-2019-final

minutes Jewish Community Foundation of Calgary ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING 7:00 p.m. Wednesday, October 30, 2019 Temple B'nai Tikvah

Attendance:

Gerry Barron, Daniel Blitt, Warren Book, Jeff Eichler, Max Feldman, Maxine Fischbein, Milton Fischbein, Jackie Halpern, Stuart Libin, Stuart Myron, Richard Nagan, Harvey Silverstone

Guests:

Ron Bing, Judy Bing, Eytan Donsky, Diana Kalef, Saundra Lipton, Chris Marra, Andrew Oppenheim

Staff:

Brenda Sapoznikow o

Meeting was called to order at 7:00 p.m.

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Quorum is confirmed.

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Approval of agenda.

Moved by Stuart Libin, Second by Gerry Barron. Motion carried.

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Approval of Minutes of Annual General Meeting held on October 24, 2018 No amendments or questions A motion to approve minutes was made by Richard Nagan and second by Dan Blitt. All in favour – motion carried.

Annual Report by the Chair

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Stuart reviewed the Chair’s Message included on page three of the 2019 annual report.

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Highlights include: o The Foundation moved in a positive direction in 2019 with assets of $18.3M up from $14.4M in 2018 equating to an increase of 27% o Funds under stewardship total 140 up from 123 in 2018. o Grants in 2019 totaled $861,000 – a new high in the Foundation’s history exceeding 2018 grants of $585,000 equating to an increase of 47%. Thank you to Stuart Libin and the entire Grants and Allocation committee. o Teen Philanthropy continues to be a a success with a total of 125 participants to date. The program has granted a total of $14,000 since inception. B’nai Brith Lodge 816 has been involved since 2016 and we thank them for their continued support of the program.

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JCFC and Calgary Jewish Federation are partnering to implement the Harold Grinspoon Foundation Life and Legacy Program in Calgary and has teamed up with 10 local Jewish Organizations to ensure their future sustainability. We are off to a great start with 160 commitments with an estimated value of $9.8M. The goal for the first year is 180 commitments. Thank you Diana Kalef for her support as the Life and Legacy coordinator.

Thank you to Brenda, and all board members for their continued support and hard work on behalf of the JCFC. Welcome to new board members Eytan Donsky, Andrew Oppenheim and Ellen Magidson.

Special thank you to Bettina Zeisler as she is retiring from the JCFC board of directors.

Bettina served for 9 consecutive years with 3 years as chair. She set the bar high advancing the professionalism of the organization on many fronts including the website, By-laws and policies and our Annual Reports.

Presentation of Audited Financials, Warren Book o o o o o o o

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Warren introduced guests to Chris Marra, who was in attendance from KPMG, our external financial auditors.

Independent audit report longer than prior years as a result of new disclosure requirements.

The JCFC received a clean audit report.

Assets increased significantly by 27% to $18.3M. Grant distributions increased 47% to $861,000.

New note #13 added to report which represents the change in non cash working capital.

No questions from the floor.

Investment Committee Report, Dan Blitt

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Two signifcant changes to the IPS undertaken during the JCFC’s 2019 fiscal year. These changes included the introduction of non-Canadian Fixed Income and the ability for our external investment managers to signficantly increase the weighting to non-Canadian equities. The strategic rationale for these changes include diversification, risk management, currency and investment scope benefits.

Assets under investment management reached $17.7M at 2019 fical year-end representing a ~30% increase.

For the 2019 fiscal year, investment management gross returns totaled 5.1% (before investment management fees) and 4.4% on a net basis (after investment management fees). These returns exclude the impact of our State of Israel Bonds and additional cash reserves held at our financial institutions. Incorporating these excluded items would reduce the applicable annual returns by ~0.3%. It is also important to note these returns exclude applicable administration fee expenses.

Benchmarking continues to be a major focus for the JCFC Board and the Investment Committee.

We continue to evaluate the JCFC portfolio relative to relevant market indicies and competing investment managers employing a similiar mandate. For the 2019 fiscal year, the JCFC outperformed its applicable blended benchmark by ~0.9% Looking ahead, for the first quarter of the 2020 fiscal year (quarter ended September 30, 2019), the JCFC’s gross investment returns totaled ~2.1% vs the JCFC Blended Benchmark of ~1.3%.

Election of Directors

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Stuart Myron advised that the following individuals have agreed to stand for election as a Director of the JCFC for a two year term ending at the AGM 2021: Motion to elect Gerry Barron, Eytan Donsky, Nelson Halpern, Stuart Libin, Ellen Magidson, Richard Nagan, Andrew Oppenheim as Directors for a two-year term. Motion was made by Jackie Halpern and seconded by Harvey Silverstone. All in favour – the motion was carried.

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Question Period o o o

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Harvey Silverstone asked how much does the CRA mandate we distribute in grants per year.

Stuart answered that we have to distribute 3.5% of our assets excluding custodial funds.

Max Feldman suggested that it would be appreciated/useful to have a bio of the individuals standing for election prior to the vote.

Richard Nagan asked for a synopsis of Life and Legacy and Stuart Myron explained the program and purpose.

Termination: A motion to terminate the meeting at 7:30 p.m. was made by Jackie Halpern, seconded by Harvey Silverstone. Meeting adjourned.

Meeting minutes taken by Brenda Sapoznikow

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