BELVIDERE, Ill. - The Community Reinvestment Act is often viewed as a burden by small banks, but one Illinois company is betting that CRA projects will make good investments for its trust clients.
The $726 million-asset Landmark Financial Group Inc. said last week that it is offering the CRA Qualified Investment Fund to its trust clients through its three subsidiary banks: Belvidere National Bank and Trust, Alpine Bank of Illinois, and LNB National Bank.
The mutual fund is made up of debt securities, such as bonds, that are backed by projects that would qualify for credit under the 1977 regulation that requires banks to make investments in low- and moderate-income communities in their market area.
The fund opened in August 1999 and has $285 million of assets. It is managed by CRAFund Advisors Inc. of Weston, Fla.
Until now the fund had been available primarily to institutional investors. This is the first time it is being offered to individual investors, Landmark said.
