Treasurer's Report

Treasurer’s Report Overview T he Melville Society had a fine year in 2006. The robust performance of the domestic stock market resulted in an almost $10,000 increase in the value of the Murray Endowment, and the Society’s midyear outreach to delinquent members resulted in a significant number of dues contributions from a number of old friends. Our active, paid-up membership now stands at just above 400 members. Both the Murray Endowment and the Cohen Fund are 100% invested in mutual funds that have received the highest rating from the respected financial analysts at Morningstar.com. The Society is now preparing to consider how best to invest the more than $15,000 controlled by the Melville Society Cultural Project, which is currently being maintained in an interest-earning account, earning only a modest rate of return. Current Fund Balances and Membership The General Account of the Melville Society is being maintained in an interestbearing checking account at Citibank. As of the last monthly statement for 2006, issued on December 18, the account balance was $50,956.77. The General Account of the Society comprises both the general operating funds of the Society and the money earmarked for the Melville Society Cultural Project (MSCP). As of December 18, the general operating funds amounted to $35,063.27. The MSCP portion of the account stood at $15,893.50. Also as of December 18, the Society took in dues payments during 2006 in the amount of $11,293.00. New MSCP contributions for the year tallied $600.00. Contributions to the Murray Endowment in 2006 totaled $450.00. Thanks in large part to the strong performance of the Dodge & Cox Balanced Fund, in which the Murray Endowment is 100% invested and which has posted a year-to-date return of 13.5%, the endowment now totals $74,843.74. The Cohen Fund stands currently at $4,821.44. The most significant event this year from a financial perspective was our effort to re-establish contact with members who had ceased paying dues in recent years. This drive yielded significant results. Because members were not required to disclose whether their renewals were, in fact, prompted by our mailing, it is not possible to state with complete accuracy how many renewals C
2007 The Authors Journal compilation C
2007 The Melville Society and Blackwell Publishing Inc L E V I A T H A N A J O U R N A L O F M E L V I L L E S T U D I E S 105 T R E A S U R E R ’ S R E P O R T came to us as a result of our outreach. However, it may be noted that in August and September alone—normally a slow season for membership renewals—we received renewal requests from 27 members. As of December 31, 2006, we had 408 members whose memberships were paid up at least through the end of 2006. Murray Endowment The funds of the Murray Endowment are invested in the Dodge & Cox Balanced Fund (DODBX). This fund is the fourth-largest moderate-allocation fund in existence, with nearly $27 billion in assets. It currently enjoys a fivestar (highest) rating from Morningstar. As of December 22, 2006, it had posted a year-to-date return of 13.50%, outperforming the average fund in its group by about 2%. It has averaged a return of 14.46% since January 1, 2003. Now closed to new investors, it is described as “the cream of its crop” by Morningstar analysts, who praise its veteran management team, its low expense ratio, and its superior and consistent short- and long-term returns. Dan Culloton of Morningstar calls DODBX “a keeper.” Dodge & Cox Balanced Fund has proved to be a superb vehicle for the Murray Endowment. Cohen Fund The Cohen Fund is currently invested in the Vanguard GNMA Investor Shares Fund (VFIIX), which also currently has a five-star rating from Morningstar. A bond fund, Vanguard’s Ginnie Mae Fund is in a far more risk-averse category than the Dodge & Cox fund in which the Murray Endowment has been invested, and its annual returns are, accordingly, considerably...