2009 Annual Report
In God We Trust.
After the rollercoaster-like plummet in the 2008 financial markets that took our breath away, 2009 was a most welcome year of recovery. We could breathe again.
Economic downturns are more common than we think. We have had 47 since the founding of the country, 13 recessions just since the Great Depression.
But the good times are common, too. In fact, they last longer. The National Bureau of Economic Research reports the average recession lasts approximately 19 months, the average expansion about 39 months. The stock market goes up, housing values increase, jobs are plentiful, we have money in our pockets and life is good.
Affluence makes us feel invincible. Although Christians know that all we have comes from God, good times go to our heads. We become self-reliant, self-secure, independent and proud of what we have done. Our future is secured by our IRAs.
How quickly that veneer of false security peels away when one of these regularly occurring downturns occurs. Our worldly possessions dissipate. What happened to that future guaranteed by the 401(k) that became a 101(k)?
Your United Methodist Foundation of Louisiana had a good year. The value of the investments bounced back. The Equity Fund was up over 29% compared to 22% for the S&P. The Balanced Fund grew by 21%. We made more loans, led more financial campaigns for churches and had more money to give away than ever. We are the fourth largest United Methodist Foundation in the denomination.
It was, indeed a good year. But more importantly, we hope we learned to heed the words that appear on every coin or paper bill we carry in our pockets.
In God We Trust.
We always could.
We always can.
Rob Fairly
President/CEO
- Download: 2009 Annual Report
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