Frequently Asked Questions

There are four reasons why our clients have selected UCF as their trusted investment partner:

1. Values-aligned Investing with Competitive Returns: UCF employs both a justice-oriented screening process and comprehensive shareholder engagement strategies, allowing our investors to leverage their voices as faith-based investors to change the world for the better.
2. Diversified Custom Portfolios: UCF offers 14 investment funds, allowing each of our clients to build a customized, diversified and professionally managed portfolio.
3. An Experienced Team: UCF provides additional value to our clients through our expertise and knowledge of best practices around non-profit investing strategies, managing distribution/withdrawal needs, shaping endowment governance policies, planned giving and more.
4. A Trusted Partner: UCF is a non-profit organization, striving to keep our administrative and investment expenses low. We sit on the same side of the table as our clients in working toward common mission and ministry.

With over $1.1 billion in assets under care for over 1,100 clients, UCF has a moral and legal imperative to operate with the utmost integrity in all our duties. We live out our fiduciary role through regular reviews of our organizational conduct policies, transparent reporting on fees and performance, consultations on our client’s fiduciary responsibilities and through our annual independent financial audit and the annual SOC1 report on our system of internal controls of financial reporting. In addition, key members of our team have earned the Accredited Investment Fiduciary financial designation.

United Church Funds welcomes all faith-based, non-profit organizations and churches. Currently, over 1,100 local churches, judicatories, denominational ministries, seminaries and healthcare institutions call United Church Funds their trusted investment partner. At this time, UCF’s offerings are not available to individuals, only to institutional investors.

Because UCF’s investment platform is designed exclusively for faith-based organizations, our team has developed a comprehensive suite of services that add value to our client relationships:

1. Endowment Governance – UCF staff work with clients to review, update and develop policy documents to help them meet their fiduciary obligations.
2. Trust Services – UCF can serve as trustee for many of our client’s trust accounts at no additional fee. Contact us at (877)-806-4989 to learn more and to see if your organization qualifies.
3. Planned Giving – UCF has developed educational materials and offers planned giving vehicles to help our clients build and implement successful planned giving strategies and campaigns.

For questions about the investment funds and financial services offered by UCF, please contact:

Matt Wagner, Director, Institutional Relationships
Midwest, Southwest or Western Regions
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 332-219-8760

Stacey Pettice, Executive, Institutional Relationships
Northeast, Mid-Atlantic or Southeast Regions
Email: [email protected]
Phone: 332-219-8759

Opening a new account at UCF is a simple process. For new clients, we require an Account Application and a notarized resolution that names the officers of the church authorized to act on behalf of the church’s investment accounts. Click here to download the Account Application. For existing investors, we require written authorization to create a new account. In both cases, the minimum investment to open a new account is $1,000.00.

To keep our clients abreast of their account information and market performance, UCF prepares the following reports:

Preliminary Performance Report Available on the UCF homepage website within five business days following quarter-end. This report includes a letter from Charles Buck, President & CEO, and preliminary (unaudited) performance of selected funds against benchmarks.

Final Performance Report Available on the UCF website within ten business days following quarter-end. This report includes the finalized performance table against benchmarks and peers. Please note that there may be a lag in the reporting of the Alternatives Fund and Alternatives Balanced Fund.

Monthly Account Statement Available on the Client Access portal within one business day following month-end. This report provides a summary of your account(s), including transactions and fund balance(s).

Quarterly Account Statement Available on the Client Access portal within five business days following quarter-end. This report provides a summary of your account(s) including transactions and fund balance.

Monthly Market Review Available on the UCF website approximately three weeks following quarter-end. This review, prepared by the Investments Team, summarizes the market and funds’ performance.

Holdings Report Available on the Client Access portal within 45 business days following quarter-end. This report lists securities held across all UCF funds. Please note that market values may not be current due to an information lag from some alternatives managers.

Fund Fact Sheets Available on the UCF website approximately six weeks following quarter-end. The fund fact sheets provide detailed and essential information about each fund’s investment strategy, performance, asset allocation and fund characteristics.

Quarterly Town Hall Meetings Live sessions via Zoom, scheduled approximately six to eight weeks following quarter-end. The UCF team presents a live review of quarterly market performance, as well as UCF’s latest responsible investing efforts and organizational updates. Recording and slide deck are made available afterwards to all UCF clients on the UCF website.

Auditors’ Reports UCF’s system controls (SOC 1 Type 2) and consolidated financial statements are audited annually. The SOC 1 report covers the period, December 1 through November 30, and is usually available by the following January 31. The audited Consolidated Financial Statements covers the calendar year and is usually available by June 30 of the subsequent year. Both reports are available upon request.

Annual Report Available on the UCF website approximately two to three months following year-end. The annual report highlights UCF’s growth and impact, investment performance, clients’ stories and responsible investing initiatives.

Click here to subscribe to UCF “News and Updates” to receive notifications as soon as these reports are ready.

There are several ways to deposit funds into an investment account at UCF, including wire transfers, electronic fund transfers directly to/from your local banking institution, or transfers of securities in-kind from another broker or advisor. All withdrawals from UCF are processed electronically. For security purposes, we do not send checks to our clients. Most transactions can be processed within two business days. We recommend contacting UCF Client Services at (877) 806-4989 or by emailing [email protected] to find out which process is best for your situation.

You can transfer assets between funds or accounts at any time and with any frequency. Please use forms found on our website or contact UCF Client Services at [email protected] for more information.

Yes. We process those gifts routinely for our clients through BNY Mellon, UCF’s custodian bank. To ensure we have all the required information, please contact Client Services at [email protected].

We offer online access to view account information to authorized officers of the client. If you are already a registered user, click here to access your account information. Alternatively, you can also click on the “Client Access” menu on our website. If you haven’t registered, please contact UCF Client Services at (877) 806-4989 or [email protected] to obtain secure log-in information.

Please use the Authorized Account Signatory form when a change of Authorized Officers occurs. We also encourage all of our clients to notify us when there is a change of Treasurer and/or Bookkeeper, Investment or Finance Committees, or Pastor.