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 over $3.5 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 than the benchmark (Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index¹.)

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
• Multifamily Agency mortgage backed securities (MBS)
• Single family Agency MBS
• Government-guaranteed Small Business Administration (SBA) pools and 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 and is Secretary of the Southern Municipal Finance Society (SMFS), and is past Co-Chair of the Securities Taskforce of Women in Housing and Finance. She is also a member of the National Federation of Municipal Analysts and a Founding Chair of The Charlotte Lacrosse Foundation. In 2008, Barbara was named one of the "20 Rising Stars of Fixed Income" by Institutional Investor.

Todd Cohen is President, Chief Investment Officer and a Founder of Community Capital Management. In his role, he is responsible for strategy formulation for the firm’s portfolios, client portfolio management, and is involved with strategic marketing initiatives. Prior to co-founding Community Capital, Todd co-founded SunCoast Capital Group, Ltd., an institutional, fixed income broker/dealer. He began his investment career in 1988 and holds a BS degree in Finance from The University of Florida.

Michelle Rogers is a Senior Vice President and a Portfolio Manager at Community Capital Management. In her role, Michelle is primarily responsible for client portfolio management and overseeing trading functions of the firm’s products. She is also involved in portfolio research and new business development. Michelle was previously a Fixed Income Specialist at Wachovia Bank responsible for expanding and cross-selling products to new and existing clients. She began her investment career in 1993 and is an associate member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of South Florida.  Michelle serves on the Board of Directors of the Broward Alliance of Neighborhood Development (BAND), and is 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 in 2007 and 2008 and 2nd place in 2009 and 2010 for Smith's All-Star Municipal Analyst Team.  Julie serves on the Board of the National Federation of Municipal Bond Analysts and the Southern Municipal Finance Society. She also served as President for the Southern Municipal Finance Society from 2008 to 2010.

Elliot Gilfarb is a Junior Portfolio Manager at Community Capital Management and supports the portfolio management team in day-to-day portfolio management operations.  His responsibilities include performing detailed portfolio analysis including attribution and holdings analytics, creating quarterly and monthly performance client reports, and working with the portfolio managers in the evaluation and pricing of fixed income securities. Elliot formerly worked as a Financial Advisor at Morgan Stanley. He holds a BS in Finance from The University of Florida, and is sitting for Level III of the CFA exam. He is an affiliate member of the CFA Society of South Florida.

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

¹The Barclays Capital U.S. Aggregate Bond Index represents securities that are U.S. domestic, taxable and dollar denominated. The index covers the U.S. investment grade fixed rate bond market, with index components for government and corporate securities and asset-backed securities. Investors cannot invest directly in any index.

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

Yield and share price will vary with changes in interest rates and market conditions. Investors should note that if interest rates rise significantly from current levels, bond fund total returns will decline and may even turn negative in the short term. There is also a chance that some of the fund's holdings may have their credit rating downgraded or may default.

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.