Treasurer's Report

Treasurer’s Report D espite some turbulence in the financial markets, most notably the sub-prime mortgage crisis, the Melville Society had a respectable year in 2007. The Murray Endowment has posted a positive YTD return of 3.4%, the Cohen Fund has posted a 7.0% YTD return, and the Society’s autumn solicitation of membership renewals stimulated a brisk response. Our active membership (those currently on the Leviathan mailing list) now stands above 460 members. Both the Murray Endowment and the Cohen Fund are invested in mutual funds that have received the highest or next-to-highest ratings from the respected financial analysts at Morningstar.com. I see no reason whatever for changing these investment positions. This year, for the first time ever, funds from the Melville Society Cultural Project (MSCP) were moved out of interestearning checking and into a mutual fund. In September, approximately 80% of the MSCP funds were invested in the Vanguard Total Bond Index Fund. In the three months since that move took place, this investment has realized a return of 1.84%, an improvement of almost 1.75 % over the account where it had previously been placed. Our accounts are maintaining strong balances, and our investments have done a good job of withstanding the recent shocks to the market. As I see it, our greatest area of concern at the moment lies in our ability to solicit contributions to our various specialized funds, i.e., the Murray Endowment; the Cohen Fund, and the MSCP. I. 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 close of business on December 26, 2007, the account balance was $39,517.92. While this balance is considerably less than the $50,956.77 reported last year, the difference is more than accounted for by the transfer of $12,700.00 in MSCP funds out of this account and into a mutual fund. The General Account of the Society comprises both the general operating funds of the Society and approximately 20 percent of the money earmarked for the Melville Society Cultural Project (MSCP). During the twelve months C
2008 The Authors Journal compilation C
2008 The Melville Society and Wiley Periodicals, 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 139 E X T R A C T S since the Society’s last MLA business meeting, the Society has taken in dues payments in the amount of $13,200, a $1,907.00 increase over last year’s $11,293.00. New MSCP contributions for the year tallied $465.00, off somewhat from last year’s $600.00. The MSCP currently totals $16,416.89. The Murray Endowment has posted a year-to-date return of 3.4% and now totals $75,387.18. Contributions to this Endowment in 2007 totaled $275.00, down from last year’s $450.00. The Cohen Fund, which received no new contributions , stands currently at $5,109.56. Our autumn campaign to encourage members to renew their memberships in advance of the year’s end yielded strong results. During the last three months of the year, the Society received 139 dues payments for 2008 or beyond: approximately thirty percent of our active members took advantage of the opportunity to extend their memberships early. At present, we have approximately 460 members whose memberships are paid up at least through the end of 2006. In a year when the Society’s financial outlook was generally encouraging , essentially the only disappointments concern the downturn in member contributions to the Society’s specialized funds. Contributions to the Murray Endowment declined by 27.7 percent, while MSCP donations were off 22.5 percent. In 2008, it would be wise for the Executive Committee to consider ways to stimulate a higher level of contributions to these funds. II. Investment Performance The remainder of this report will review the three Society funds that exist independently of our general operating resources. I recommend staying the course with...