Investment Fund
INVEST
Invest your savings and give to world missions
The Investment Fund can help you achieve your own financial goals while making a difference in the lives of people who need Jesus.
What is the Investment Fund?
The Investment Fund is the lending arm of Eastern Mennonite Missions. In the spirit of mutual assistance, the fund receives savings from our constituency, pays interest to these investors, and makes first-lien mortgage loans to Anabaptist churches and related agencies, usually at a rate lower than that of a commercial loan.
Why should I invest in the Investment Fund?
Those who invest in the Investment Fund support the work of the church as they also plan for their future needs. More than one thousand people have already chosen to invest their savings in these church projects.
Since 1959, EMM has been investing savings from individuals and organizations in churches, colleges, hospitals, retirement homes, schools, and church camps. Investing in these kinds of church capital projects allows people to invest in the church’s future and to avoid helping to finance military and worldly enterprises.
Our interest rates are modest, so that borrowers (young churches and other Mennonite agencies) do not need to pay us high rates for the use of these funds. We charge borrowers at least one percent above EMM’s “index” (based upon the total cost of all notes payable in the Investment Fund) to cover administration and audit expenses.
What are the current interest rates for investors?
EMM offers on-demand notes at an interest rate of 0.10%, one-year promissory notes at an interest rate of 3.0%, and three-year promissory notes at an interest rate of 3.0%. EMM also welcomes interest-free on-demand promissory notes. Each of these notes has a minimum purchase price of $500.
How do I invest? What do I do next?
To invest a portion of your funds with the Investment Fund, please fill out the Investor application form. On the form you’ll see our current interest rates, and you will indicate whether interest should be added to the principal or paid to you. You’ll need to supply your Social Security number on a W-9 form so that we can give you an annual 1099 Interest Statement for tax reporting purposes. Send the completed Investor application form, the completed W-9 form, a copy of a form of photo ID (driver’s license, passport, etc.), and your check (payable to Eastern Mennonite Missions) to P.O. Box 8617, Lancaster, PA 17604-8617. We will then send a promissory note to you, along with a prospectus.
Services may be limited in states outside Pa. If you live outside Pa., please find out your options by contacting Trisha Good before you apply to invest.
The securities are offered in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania alone, and hence, unavailable in all other States separate and apart from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania. This is neither an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to purchase the securities, and the securities may not be sold in the States of Alabama, Alaska, Arizona, Arkansas, California, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Illinois, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming, or any other jurisdiction under the preview of any federal, state, or political entity’s or subdivision’s law, rule, or regulation that would prohibit or make illegal the sale of such securities.
Subject to the above limitation, this offer is further limited to persons who are, prior to the receipt of this Prospectus, members of, contributors to (including investors in) or participants in Anabaptist Churches or in Eastern Mennonite Missions or in any program, activity or organization which constitutes a part of the Anabaptist Churches or Eastern Mennonite Missions or in any other church organizations that have a programmatic relationship with the Anabaptist Churches or Eastern Mennonite Missions.
As a further notice, these securities have not been registered with the United States federal government as under the Securities and Exchange Act of 1933, 1934, or any other applicable federal law. These securities are registered with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania pursuant to Section 1-206 of Pennsylvania Securities Act of 1972. However, any registration with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and its Department of Banking and Securities in no way is an approval, endorsement, or verification of the securities by the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, its Department of Banking and Securities, or any other person or entity associated or affiliated with the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania.
BORROW
Need a loan to build, buy, or renovate your ministry facility?
When you borrow from the Investment Fund, the interest you pay back supports global ministry through Eastern Mennonite Missions.
What is the Investment Fund?
The Investment Fund is the lending arm of Eastern Mennonite Missions. To cover this banking function, EMM registers a prospectus with the Pennsylvania Department of Banking and Securities annually. The Investment Fund is not a commercial lending agency. In the spirit of mutual assistance, the fund receives savings from our constituency, pays interest to these investors, and makes first-lien mortgage loans to Anabaptist churches and related agencies, usually at a rate less than commercial loans. The Investment Committee which manages this fund has no gifting or granting function since it has fiduciary accountability to each and every investor of savings.
Mortgage Limits
- Our guidelines allow us to invest up to 75% of the lower of the property’s cost or appraisal.
- The loan amount should not be more than twice the annual income of the borrower.
- Total operating expenses should not exceed 90% of average annual income of the borrower.
- Looking at summarized financial reports, we calculate average operating expense less rental cost of previous location plus the amortization cost of the new loan.
Approvals
Approval is given by an Investment Committee of about ten persons which meets quarterly to review applications and summarized financials. Applications should be submitted by the first of January, April, July, or October so that they can be included in the agenda packet mailed to committee members in advance of their mid-quarter meetings. Urgent approvals can usually be presented to the Committee within two weeks of application. If flexibility to our guidelines is needed, then the committee asks that even urgent requests wait until the next face-to-face meeting of the committee.
Rates
Rates are reviewed each year in April for possible adjustment. We only make adjustable-rate loans so that the committee can keep the Investment Fund’s interest charge at least 1% above its interest cost in the portfolio. For small loans secured by only two signatures on a promissory note, the rate is 0.75% (3/4%) above the current mortgage rate. Anabaptist churches and church-related agencies in Pa. who are purchasing or renovating facilities borrow money from the Investment Fund at favorable adjustable annual rates (currently 4.75% for new mortgages).
Points
The Investment Fund does not charge any percentage points up front but the borrower covers all costs at settlement, which include legal fees for preparation of the mortgage, mortgage note, deed, and title insurance.