JUST SOME THOUGHTS

This was an interesting week at Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors. We celebrated the 10^th anniversary of our mutual funds on February 27^th and celebrated in New Haven with our Boston team on the big screen all having a toast to this important milestone. It has been an incredible run from a single sheet of paper, 9 mutual funds, a private debt fund, numerous separate accounts, incredible client and consultant relationships, and profits! Perhaps the most important thing is our unwavering efforts to deliver competitive performance, at market fees, compliance with Catholic social teaching, and the knowledge that our profitability supports the ideals of the Order and the Catholic Church at large. We were fortunate to have Supreme Knight Patrick Kelly on hand as well as some other members of our leadership.

I am a “little” type A, so I am typically focused on moving forward. When I was 17, and I do not know why, I started having a deep reflection on my birthday to think about what I accomplished in the past year and what I hoped to do in the coming year. It is a practice that I continue now nearly 40 years later. This past Thursday I reflected on the last 10 years and thought about the hard work of developing our company and about the sacrifices so many people made to make this endeavor a reality. Our New Haven and Boston teams came together in a special way and we all have this success to share and enjoy…together!

Past Supreme Knight Carl Anderson was my biggest supporter and gave me the time, space, and resources to bring the idea to life. Though on the board at the time, Supreme Knight Kelly was always a source of support, and this grew upon his election as Deputy Supreme Knight and has only grown stronger since his election to Supreme Knight. I am also so thankful for Mike Votto, our inside business counsel, and his strong efforts at my side those years ago. This past week I spoke with Neill Jordan, our now retired head of our structured fixed income team (now led by Nick Gentile; Nick and Neill were so very close when they worked together). Neill once commented that by the time we reached profitability and scale, he would be in retirement. That never stopped him from working hard to make the funds a reality. I am forever grateful to Neill for his friendship and support.

Who knows what the next 10 years will bring. We have built a very strong base and have a wonderfully committed team, and I believe we will achieve greater heights.

As a final note, whatever your political predilections, the scene between President Trump and Zelensky was unfortunate. The U.S. has spent many billions supporting Ukraine. President Trump had some strong words for Ukraine and President Zelensky seemed to have shown up to make a point. The ending of the meeting without resolution brought some volatility to the market. We continue to think that geopolitical issues, the path of inflation, and our debt and deficits will be the driving factors for the market.

This past week we took a moment to celebrate but I can assure you, come today we will be back at it as focused as ever! Thank you to all who have worked so hard on KoCAA and thank you to our clients for your faith in us.