Despite a rough few months because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Porter County’s nonprofit foundation seems to be holding fairly steady given the circumstances, representatives from the foundation’s investment firm told officials Thursday.

The foundation was created with proceeds from the 2007 sale of the county hospital, after a change in state law, and was started in April 2016 with the goal of generating 5% in interest that would return to the county. Anything above that would roll back into the fund.

“It’s really an unfortunate quarter,” said Peter Harvey, a financial adviser with Capital Cities, the Indianapolis investment firm handling the foundation. He spoke during a meeting of the foundation board, composed of the county’s council and board of commissioners, held via Zoom and offered to the public on Facebook.

“I’m happy to say we’ve seen some rebounding into the second quarter of the year,” he said.

The foundation had a balance of $173.5 million at the start of the first quarter of this year. By March 31, the end of the quarter, that had dropped to just under $150 million, but Harvey said that as of Wednesday, that had rebounded to about $170.3 million.

Since its inception date, Harvey said, the portfolio is up 7.2%.

Harvey said the firm wants to temper expectations for the foundation, especially because the market took another significant dip on Thursday before the investment presentation.

“That volatility is still possible in the future, especially given the current state of affairs,” he said. “We’re really in uncharted times.”

Amanda Black, CEO of Capital Cities, said county officials should still expect a return of 5% on the portfolio because of its conservative construction. The portfolio generated a 5.5% return last year, she added.

The portfolio is more narrowly focused than other foundations, Black said, and over 10 years, “you really shouldn’t lose money with this portfolio.”

The county doesn’t pull a lot of money out of the foundation, Black said. She didn’t think the foundation board should re-allocate the distribution of investments often.

“I’m happy with what we’re doing,” said Commissioner Laura Blaney, D-South, president of the foundation board, adding when the foundation was first established, “we were just trying to keep long-term thinking at the forefront.”

Though this year will be “a bumpy road,” Blaney said she’s satisfied with how the funds are invested but that it might be a good time to discuss smoothing the returns, something the board has discussed before.

The move would use rolling averages of market values to determine how much in earnings the foundation generates for the county each year, Black said, adding that now is based on how the portfolio looks on a single day, which is Dec. 31 of each year.

Amy Lavalley is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.