Document Type

Investment Portfolio

Publication Date

2026

Abstract

We would like to thank you for your service to the Crummer Truist Portfolio. Without your participation, Crummer students would not benefit from the unique insight you bring to managing an active portfolio. We have been fortunate to listen and learn from some outstanding guest speakers who have been generous with their time and expertise: Dr. J. Clay Singleton, Emeritus Professor, Crummer Graduate School of Business; Amy Martin, Executive Director (Corporate Credit Strategy) at Wells Fargo; Davis Moshier, Investment Banking Associate at Lucid Capital Markets; Jay Kineon, Analyst at PFM Financial Advisors; Marc Miller, Partner, DePrince, Race, and Zollo; Matej Sušec, Research Analyst, DePrince, Race, and Zollo; Dr. William Seyfried, Professor, Crummer Graduate School of Business; Courtney Aquilla, Vice President, Finance and Investor Relations, Darden Restaurants; Phillip Rich, Chief Investment Officer, United Community Bank; Rick Ahl, Managing Director/Wealth Manager at Carnegie Investment Counsel; Deryck Harmer, Managing Director, Springlake Partners; Jennifer (Anderson) Murphy, AVP, Rockefeller Capital Management; Jay Menozzi, Principal and Chief Investment Officer, Orange Investment Advisors, LLC. SunTrust (now Truist) endowed this portfolio to provide scholarships for future Crummer students and to give current students a practical, hands-on learning opportunity. This year, we are pleased to be able to disburse $54,000 to be used for scholarships. We are extremely grateful for this generous investment in higher education. We have all learned a great deal from this experience and the responsibility of managing real money. Our first challenge is to establish a portfolio position that takes advantage of economic opportunities while avoiding unnecessary risk and conforming to the Crummer Truist Investment Policy Statement (IPS). We are also tasked by the IPS to operate at two levels simultaneously – tactical for the near term and strategic for the long run. Additionally, this portfolio presents some unusual portfolio management challenges by trading only once a year, in early April. Our tactical approach began with a top-down sector analysis. We established an economic forecast based on research and consultation with economists, including Professor Bill Seyfried of the Crummer School and Philip Rich of UCBI. We based our equity and fixed income split on that forecast with a 20% allocation to bonds, at the highest level allowed by the IPS. That forecast also drove our allocation among the eleven S&P sectors: Communication Services, Consumer Discretionary, Consumer Staples, Energy, Financials, Healthcare, Industrials, Information Technology, Materials, Real Estate, and Utilities. Based on our economic outlook, which is most consistent with an economy transitioning through the later stages of the business cycle amid moderating inflation and evolving monetary policy, we tilted the allocation toward sectors that should perform relatively well in such a macro environment, while also incorporating political developments and industry-specific dynamics. Our asset allocation embodies the long-run strategy of our portfolio. The IPS sets asset class ranges from low to moderate risk to limit exposure to transitory market volatility. Our equity allocations signify an opportunity to take on measured risk, consistent with our economic outlook through the end of March 2027. We maintain an allocation to a sector ETF in each sector to achieve passive exposure. We also invest in two individual stocks per sector with the objective of outperforming the sector index. Consistent with our expectations of a gradual normalization in interest rates, characterized by easing short-term rates and a relatively anchored long end, we are positioned at the high end of our IPS range for fixed income at 20% while maintaining slightly below-average duration relative to the permissible range. Furthermore, we have continued to incorporate investment themes. This year, we will maintain the dual themes of Artificial Intelligence and Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) investing in our portfolio selection process. Regardless of a security’s consistency with either of these themes, all recommendations must be undervalued following rigorous quantitative and qualitative analysis. In other words, our intent is not to maximize AI or ESG exposure, but rather to tilt toward these factors when supported by a compelling investment thesis. The current market environment is defined less by cyclical recovery and more by structural and policy-driven uncertainty. Persistent geopolitical tensions, including ongoing developments in the Middle East, alongside evolving trade policies and continued volatility in energy markets, have introduced additional complexity into the outlook for growth, inflation, and monetary policy. We do not intend to simply follow the crowd. Yet, echoing the philosophy of Warren Buffett, “our opinions and beliefs, grounded in economics and guided by all of those who have counseled us,” lead us to a strategy that may not differ materially from that of many disciplined investors. Even so, we accept full responsibility for our investment decisions. We remain focused on long-term value creation, while maintaining a conservative posture in our forecasts and recommendations. At the same time, in the short term, we remain mindful of the portfolio’s role in supporting scholarships and the importance of preserving capital. We thank you for your time and participation in this important endeavor. Sincerely, Crummer Investment Management Team

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