About the manager

Community Capital Management, Inc. was established in 1998 and is an SEC-registered investment advisor focused exclusively on the active management of high quality, market-rate, fixed-income securities issued to promote community and economic development. The core economic activities supported by these investments may include affordable homeownership, affordable rental housing, urban and rural economic development, small business lending and environmental sustainability. Community Capital is a majority woman-owned firm. Since its inception, Community Capital Management has invested $3 billion in community and economic development investments nationwide.

Investment philosophy

Community Capital Management invests in government-related sub-sectors of the bond market traditionally excluded from the major bond indices. Community Capital believes these government-related sub-sectors of the bond market are chronically undervalued and may offer a relative yield advantage, and an opportunity to generate above-average, risk-adjusted returns with lower volatility and lower credit risk.

Investment approach

Community Capital Management specializes in the construction and management of high-quality, government-related bond portfolios composed primarily of non-index securities. The portfolio management team establishes long-term strategic asset allocation range, which may call for the inclusion of instruments from the following subsectors among others:

• Taxable municipal bonds
• U.S. Agency multifamily mortgage backed securities (MBS)
• U.S. Agency single family MBS
• Securitized pools of U.S. Government-guaranteed Small Business Administration (SBA) loans and United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) loans

Within each sub-sector, bonds are assigned a fair market value (based largely on the bond's relative yield spread vis-à-vis similarly structured bonds of the same credit quality) and examined within the context of the entire portfolio, placing specific emphasis on duration, convexity, projected prepayment speeds and liquidity constraints. Interest rate risk is mitigated by constructing a portfolio duration with the goal of remaining within a 10% or 15% band vis-à-vis the benchmark. Credit risk is monitored by researching the bond issuer, the debtors representing the loans collateralizing the bond, the creditworthiness of the credit enhancing entity (when applicable) and any national and/or local economic factors affecting the issue.

Portfolio managers

Community Capital Management utilizes a team approach to its portfolio management. The team is led by Senior Portfolio Manager Barbara VanScoy.

Barbara VanScoy is Chair of the Board, Senior Portfolio Manager and a Founder of Community Capital Management. In her role, Barbara is responsible for fixed income and community development research and client portfolio management. She is a well-regarded author, speaker and expert on the Community Reinvestment Act (CRA). Through her work, Barbara has created an extensive network of mortgage originators and municipal underwriters to encourage the production of affordable housing, job training programs and affordable healthcare facilities. She began her investment career in 1991 and holds a BS in Finance from the University of Florida. Barbara serves on the Board of Directors of the Southern Municipal Finance Society (SMFS) and is a member of Women in Housing and Finance and the National Federation of Municipal Analysts. In 2008, Barbara was named of the "20 Rising Stars of Fixed Income" by Institutional Investor.

Alyssa Greenspan, CFA®, is Chief Operating Officer and a Portfolio Manager at Community Capital Management. In her role, Alyssa is responsible for reviewing portfolios for compliance, monitoring asset allocation strategies for separate accounts and the mutual fund, and overseeing risk management, portfolio analytics and client reporting. Alyssa began her investment career in 1994 and holds a BSM in Finance from Tulane University and an MBA from the University of Miami. Alyssa holds the CFA designation and is a member of the CFA Institute, the CFA Society of South Florida, Women in Housing and Finance and the National Association of Women MBAs.

Michelle Rogers is a Senior Vice President and a Portfolio Manager at Community Capital Management. In her role, Michelle is primarily responsible for overseeing trading, operations and cash management. She also assists in research and client portfolio management. Michelle began her investment career in 1993 and is an associate member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of South Florida and a member of the Southern Municipal Finance Society (SMFS), Women in Housing and Finance and the Mortgage Bankers Association.

Julie Egan is a Senior Vice President and a Portfolio Manager at Community Capital Management. In her role, Julie is primarily responsible for municipal credit analysis and research. She also works with the portfolio management team in structuring new deals on behalf of clients. Julie began her investment career in 1986 and holds a BBA in Finance from Kent State University and an MBA from Case Western Reserve University. She received 1st place for Smith's All-Star Municipal Analyst Team in 2007 and 2008, serves as the President of the Southern Municipal Finance Society and is on the Board of the National Federation of Municipal Bond Analysts.

ESG commitment

Community Capital Management's commitment to ESG is reflected in its investment strategy — by exclusively investing in high-credit quality, fixed-income securities that finance community and economic development in urban, rural and minority communities nationwide. These activities include:

• Environmentally sustainable initiatives
• Affordable homeownership for low- and moderate-income people
• Small business development and job creation programs
• Economic development projects including neighborhood revitalization, education and childcare services.

Additionally, Community Capital continues to increase efforts in working directly with municipal issuers to collaborate on the origination of bonds that address poverty, environmental sustainability and community development in the United States.

Pax World Management makes no assurance that the manner in which Community Capital Management manages its assets in the ESG Managers™ Portfolios is the same as or entirely consistent with the manner in which it manages any of its other Funds or accounts.

Click here to access the Community Capital Management web site

Community Capital Management is not affiliated with ALPS Distributors, Inc. 

When investing in bonds, you are subject, but not limited to, the same interest rate, inflation and credit risks associated with the underlying bonds owned by the Fund.

CFA is a trademark owned by CFA Institute.