Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors Celebrates 5th Anniversary; Delivering Investment Expertise to Catholic Investors

NEW HAVEN, Conn., March 4, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors, LLC (KoCAA), a trusted authority on Catholic investing with more than $25 billion of assets under management, is celebrating its fifth anniversary.

KoCAA was formed to fill the need for faith-based investment practices for Catholic institutions, such as dioceses, church organizations, endowments, foundations, universities and hospitals. In that short time, KoCAA has delivered investment strategies to hundreds of Catholic institutions throughout the United States.

Carl Anderson, chief executive officer and chairman of the Knights of Columbus board of directors looked back to the impetus for the firm's founding and remarked: "Faith guides everything we do at the Knights of Columbus, and our values-based model has helped us build an enormously successful business and investment portfolio. KoCAA allows us to share that model with those who seek profits without ethical compromise."

"Forming KoCAA to launch a suite of faith-based investment solutions was a natural extension to our legacy of providing financial services through Knights of Columbus Insurance."

While KoCAA first offered mutual funds in 2015, it grew from the more than 138 years of experience and the investment discipline applied to the management of assets held within Knights of Columbus, its parent company's general account. Knights of Columbus is a Fortune 1000 entity and is rated AA+ by S&P and rated A+ (Superior) and a Top 50 U.S. Life/Health Insurer by A.M. Best.¹

KoCAA is led by its president and chief investment officer, Tony Minopoli. "This is a special anniversary for our clients and our firm. On one level, it marks half a decade of bringing our faith-based investment strategies to the marketplace, delivering principled and meaningful Catholic investment strategies with a strong record of risk adjusted performance," stated Minopoli. "On another level, we've achieved these results while successfully upholding our commitment to Catholic teaching as defined by the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops' (USCCB) socially responsible investment guidelines."

Tony Minopoli has overseen a near quadrupling in mutual fund assets² as well as consistency in people and process. Since inception, the Core Bond Fund (KCCIX), Limited Duration Fund (KCLIX), Large Cap Value Fund (KCVIX), and International Equity Fund (KCIIX) have outperformed their industry benchmarks while maintaining fidelity to the Catholic faith. 

The performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth less than their original cost and current performance may be higher or lower than the performance quoted. Investment performance does not reflect the redemption fee; if it was reflected, the total return would be lower than shown. Each Knights of Columbus mutual fund offers three share classes. Performance information for the share classes not presented could be higher or lower based on share class characteristics. For performance data current to the most recent month end, please call 1-844-KC-FUNDS. Performance data for periods over one year are annualized.

Most recently, the firm launched three new funds: Long/Short Equity Fund (KCEIX) and Global Real Estate Fund (KCRIX) to broaden clients' opportunities to diversify their portfolios, and a first-of-its-kind U.S. All Cap Index Fund (KCXIX) that introduces a low cost³ passive investment option for Catholic investors. In March 2019 The Knights of Columbus International Equity Fund was awarded the 2019 Lipper Award in its International Multi-Cap Core Funds group, for best performing fund over a three-year period⁴.

"As a leader in faith-based investing, we are proud to be able to meet this unique need for Catholics and we are excited to continue to meet this growing market need in the years to come," added Minopoli. "It is a great privilege to work with my team, who are dedicated to ensuring that our investors get the value, reliability and service they've come to expect from our organization." 

During its five-year tenure, KoCAA has expanded its range of strategies and continues to develop solutions for clients across a range of asset classes. Investment solutions include fixed income and equity strategies, as well as a variety of customizable model portfolios, separate account strategies and target-date portfolios, which collectively leverage the firm's research capabilities and address clients' values. 

Further Information:

About Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors
Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors is an SEC registered investment adviser that maintains a principal place of business in the State of Connecticut. For further information about KoCAA's business operations, please consult the Firm's Form ADV disclosure documents, the most recent versions of which are available on the SEC's Investment Adviser Public Disclosure website at www.adviserinfo.sec.gov. KoCAA, is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Knights of Columbus, the world's largest Catholic fraternal service organization, with more $25 billion in assets under management. Please visit: KofCAssetAdvisors.org for additional information.

You should consider the investment objectives, risks and charges and expenses carefully before investing. Nothing presented herein is intended to constitute investment advice and no investment decision should be made based on any information provided herein. Nothing presented herein should be construed as a recommendation to purchase or sell a particular type of security or follow any investment technique or strategy. No guarantee of investment performance is being provided and no inference to the contrary should be made. 

About Knight of Columbus Insurance

Knights of Columbus offers life insurance, retirement income products, long-term care insurance and disability income insurance. Knight of Columbus Asset Advisors ("KoCAA") provides institutional asset management and an array of securities products and services, as well as retail mutual funds. Knights of Columbus Charitible Fund ("KCCF") offers donor advised funds. Please visit www.kofc.org/insurance for more information.

Knights of Columbus is a fraternal benefit society. It has been named a Fortune 1000 entity and is rated AA+ by S&P and rated A+ (Superior) and a Top 50 U.S. Life/Health Insurers by A.M. Best.

Consider the funds' investment objectives, risks, charges and expenses carefully before investing. This and other information can be found in the funds' full or summary prospectuses, which can be obtained by calling 1-844-KC-Funds or by visiting www.kofcassetadvisors.org. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.

Mutual fund investing involves risk. Some mutual funds have more risk than others. The investment return and principal value will fluctuate and shares when sold may be worth more or less than the original cost. Fixed income investments are subject to interest rate risk, and their value will decline as interest rates rise. Asset allocation and diversification do not assure a profit or protect against loss in declining markets. There is no guarantee a Fund's objectives will be achieved. The risks associated with each fund are explained more fully in each fund's respective prospectus. Investors should consult with their attorney, accountant, and/or tax professional for advice concerning their particular situation.

Mutual Funds are not insured by the FDIC or any other federal government agency, may lose value, and are not a deposit of or guaranteed by any bank or any bank affiliate.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC, an SEC-registered investment advisor, serves as the investment advisor to each of the Knights of Columbus Funds. The Knights of Columbus Funds are distributed by SEI Investments Distribution Co. (1 Freedom Valley Dr, Oaks, PA 19456), which is not affiliated with Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors or any of its affiliates.

Gross Expense Ratio 0.87%, Net Expense Ratio 0.50%.

Gross Expense Ratio 0.84%, Net Expense Ratio 0.50%

Gross Expense Ratio 1.10%, Net Expense Ratio 0.90%.

Gross Expense Ratio 1.11%, Net Expense Ratio 0.90%.

Gross Expense Ratio 1.17%, Net Expense Ratio 1.05%.

Gross Expense Ratio 1.39%, Net Expense Ratio 1.10%.

Gross Expense Ratio 1.43%, Net Expense Ratio 1.00%.

The performance data quoted represents past performance. Past performance is not a guarantee of future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate so that an investor's shares, when redeemed, may be worth less than their original cost and current performance may be higher or lower than the performance quoted. Investment performance does not reflect the redemption fee; if it was reflected, the total return would be lower than shown. Each Knights of Columbus mutual fund offers three share classes. Performance information for the share classes not presented could be higher or lower based on share class characteristics. For performance data current to the most recent month end, please call 1-844-KC-FUNDS.

Fund performance for the 1 year, 3 year, and Since Inception periods are annualized. The inception date for the Core Bond Fund, the Limited Duration Fund, the Large Cap Growth Fund, the Large Cap Value Fund, The Small Cap Fund and the International Equity Fund is February 27, 2015.  Inception Date for the Global Real Estate Fund is September 30, 2019.

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC has contractually agreed to waive fees and/or to reimburse expenses to the extent necessary to keep Total Annual Fund Operating Expenses, (excluding interest, taxes, fund brokerage commissions, acquired fund fees and expenses and non-routine expenses) from exceeding the Net Expense Ratio for the respective Funds' Institutional Shares average daily net assets until February 29, 2020.

Benchmark Definitions

Bloomberg Barclays Government/Credit 1-3 Year Index – benchmark for Limited Duration Fund
The U.S. Government/Credit Index is the non-securitized component of the U.S. Aggregate Index and was the first macro index launched by Barclays Capital. The U.S. Government/Credit Index includes Treasuries (i.e., public obligations of the U.S. Treasury that have remaining maturities of more than one year), government-related issues (i.e., agency, sovereign, supranational, and local authority debt), and corporates. The U.S. Government/Credit Index was launched on January 1, 1979 and is a subset of the U.S. Aggregate Index. The 1-3 year index includes all medium and larger issues of U.S. government, investment-grade corporate, and investment-grade international dollar-denominated bonds that have maturities of between 1 and 3 years and are publicly issued.

Bloomberg Barclays US Aggregate Bond Index – benchmark for Core Bond Fund
The Barclays US Aggregate Bond Index is a broad-based flagship benchmark that measures the investment grade, US dollar denominated, fixed-rate taxable bond market. The index includes Treasuries, government-related and corporate securities, MBS (agency fixed-rate and hybrid ARM pass-throughs), ABS and CMBS (agency and non-agency). Provided the necessary inclusion rules are met, US Aggregate eligible securities also contribute to the multi-currency Global Aggregate Index and the US Universal Index, which includes high yield and emerging markets debt. The US Aggregate Index was created in 1986.

FTSE All-World Ex-U.S. Index – benchmark for International Equity Fund
The FTSE All-World ex US Index is one of a number of indexes designed to help investors benchmark their international investments. The index comprises Large and Mid cap stocks providing coverage of Developed and Emerging Markets excluding the US. The index is derived from the FTSE Global Equity Index Series (GEIS), which covers 98% of the world's investable market capitalization.

Russell 1000 Growth Index – benchmark for Large Cap Growth Fund
The Russell 1000 Growth Index measures the performance of the large-cap growth segment of the U.S. equity universe. It includes those Russell 1000 companies with higher price-to-book ratios and higher forecasted growth values. The Russell 1000 Growth Index is constructed to provide a comprehensive and unbiased barometer for the large-cap growth segment. The Index is completely reconstituted annually to ensure new and growing equities are included and that the represented companies continue to reflect growth characteristics.

Russell 1000 Value Index – benchmark for Large Cap Value Fund
The Russell 1000 Value Index measures the performance of the large-cap value segment of the U.S. equity universe. It includes those Russell 1000 companies with lower price-to-book ratios and lower expected growth values. The Russell 1000 Value Index is constructed to provide a comprehensive and unbiased barometer for the large-cap value segment. The Index is completely reconstituted annually to ensure new and growing equities are included and that the represented companies continue to reflect value characteristics.

Russell 2000 Index – benchmark for Small Cap Fund
The Russell 2000 Index measures the performance of the small-cap segment of the U.S. equity universe. The Russell 2000 Index is a subset of the Russell 3000® Index representing approximately 10% of the total market capitalization of that index. It includes approximately 2000 of the smallest securities based on a combination of their market cap and current index membership. The Russell 2000 is constructed to provide a comprehensive and unbiased small-cap barometer and is completely reconstituted annually to ensure larger stocks do not distort the performance and characteristics of the true small-cap opportunity set.

FTSE EPRA/Nareit Developed Index – benchmark for Global Real Estate Fund
The FTSE EPRA/Nareit Developed Index is a free-float adjusted, market capitalization-weighted index designed to track the performance of listed real estate companies in developed countries worldwide. Constituents of the index are screened on liquidity, size, and revenue.

Indices are unmanaged and do not reflect the effect of fees. One cannot invest directly in an index.

¹ Represents 2018 A.M. Best Data from Best's Review, July 2019 Issue

² From $200 million in 6 mutual funds on February 27, 2015 to $791 million across 9 strategies as of December 31, 2019

³ The U.S. All Cap Index Fund has a Net annual expense ratio of 0.25%.  The advisor has agreed to waive fees or assume expenses to maintain this expense ratio through February 28, 2021.  Without this commitment, the fund's expense ratio would be 1.22%.

⁴ Award methodology based on past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. To learn more about The Lipper Fund Awards visit: lipperfundawards.com.

SOURCE Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors