# LCMS Convention Proceedings_St. Louis Missouri_1950_S581
# Machine transcription, uncorrected — CHI Digital Archive (demonstration)

FINANCIAL MATTERS 581

executive committee has looked after matters between sessions
of the Board. As the members of the executive committee are
residents of St. Louis, they could meet frequently and on short
notice and thus could watch developments and dispose of matters
as they arose.

21. “Since the creation of your Board thirteen years ago the
responsibility of trust has increased tremendously, as the follow-

ing tabulation shows: April 22, 1937 January 31,1947 January 31, 1950
Pension Fund __.. — $ — $4,377,894.57 $ 7,620,130.01
L. L. L. Endowment Fund. _2,806,322.56 2,855,348.92 2,824,960.25
Sundry Trusts. 928,192.02  1,761,560.14 2'204'198.14

$3,734,514.65  $8,994,803.63 $12,649,218.40

22. “During the period of our trusteeship the L. L. L. Endow-
ment Fund has been practically static, Sundry Trusts have shown
marked progress, and the Pension Plan is now growing at the rate
of more than one million dollars a year.

23. “The L. L. L. Endowment Fund has remained in the custody
of the Continental Illinois National Bank and Trust Co. of Chicago.
For the present a major portion of the Pension Fund is also de-
posited there. The balance of the Pension Fund and practically all
of the Sundry Trust Funds are stored in the Safe Deposit Depart-
ment of the Mercantile-Commerce Bank and Trust Co. of St. Louis.
Access to the securities in Chicago can be had only through trusted
bank employees. In St. Louis access is possible only by two of
the following three, namely, the Treasurer, the Assistant Treasurer,
and the Auditor of Synod, when accompanied by two of a four-
member Fiduciary Committee appointed by the Board of Directors.

24. “Investing Synod’s Trust Funds has become a problem. All
investments must conform to definite rules which have been drafted
by this Board and approved by the Board of Directors. The Board
of Trustees is determined to remain ultraconservative. At the
same time it would like to retain its over-all earning level of 2% per
cent. These two objectives have become increasingly difficult to
obtain. Thus far we have succeeded. But the supply of securities
that fits into the pattern is becoming constantly less, and the
demand for them by other fiduciaries seems to be continually
increasing. We shall meet the situation as it develops, but will
not sacrifice safety for the sake of earnings.

25. “A number of times your Board has been importuned to set
aside a substantial part of the Pension Fund for Church Extension
purposes. This matter was referred to Synod’s counsel. It was
his studied opinion, based upon the law and many court decisions,
that it would be illegal for Synod to lend any part of the Pension