Bursars’ meeting

During the meeting, in France, 9 – 12 October 2023, the participants shared 16 “good practices”, which served as inspiration for the entire group. After the list you can read in details 4 of them.

1. Financial vehicles at interprovincial level: Norandina and Ibérica | Br. Alfonso Fernández and Br. Libardo Garzón
2. Development of strategies for real estate use: Compostela | Br. Eduardo Montenegro
3. Management and governance in a multi-country situation: América Central | Br. Manuel Matilla
4. Management of schools based on strategic indicator: Marist Network of Brazil | June Cruz (On-line)
5. Joint negotiations: Nigeria | Br. Lucky Paul
6. Offering new educational services: Mediterránea |Br. Juan Miguel Anaya and Javier Sanz
7. Design and development of the strategic-financial plan: Editorial Edelvives | Javier Cendoya (On-line)
8. Reputational crisis management and institutional communication: L’Hermitage | Br. Andreu Sánchez
9. The change of strategy and economic positioning of the Brazil Centro Norte Administrative Unit: Brasil Centro Norte | Br. José Augusto Junior
10. Governance and management model of an international province: Star of the Sea | Bernard Kenna and Paul Burges
11. Strategies for leadership development. People development: Brasil Centro Sul | Br. Vanderlei Siqueira (on line)
12. Sustainable development of the University of Mérida, a path taken in the long term: México Occidental | Br. Melesio Tiscareño
13. Separation of civil and canonical entities at the various levels of the De La Salle Institute: De La Salle Christian Brothers Institute | Br. Martín Rocha Pedrajo, Bursar Brother of La Salle (On-line)
14. Real estate management: Brasil Sul Amazonia | Br. Lauri Heck and Ana Claudia Garighan Rpçoamp
15. Master plan for disinvestment to strengthen the mission: Brasil Centro Sul | Br. Delcio Balestrin
16. New juridical architecture to address the future reality of the province: Santa María de los Andes | Raquel Cecilia Monje Vergara

Asset Management – Province of Brasil Sul-Amazônia

Br. Lauri Heck and Ana Cláudia Roliano

When it comes to the management of provincial assets, we believe that it is essential to create a culture among the brothers and also among the lay people who help us to administer them, to legalize each of the assets we acquire with the authorities or, when we sell them, write them off. We should not leave outstanding debts because this could cause us difficulties in the future when we think of selling any of our assets or using them. It is always best to legalize assets immediately so that the next administration will be able to carry out good financial management.

We have many properties in our provinces that we use for our main activity; education, such as schools, social units, houses for the brothers, support housing, and others, but we also have a large number of properties that were used in the past and are currently not being used and could be available to generate income, to make the mission viable and sustainable. It is an alternative source of income to help support the Province. In this sense, we have to look very carefully and take advantage of the best opportunities offered by the market so that these assets can generate income and not be a burden, an extra expense in maintenance and upkeep. Alternative income generation can be an important source of sustainability for the mission, or to generate funds.  Partnering with companies, especially in the real estate sector, can help us to make these properties more profitable. When we have properties to generate income, it is important to make a proper follow-up, with occupancy indicators, and income of each property and to make an annual evaluation of what we sell and what we acquire.

In terms of best practice in asset management, it is important to carry out a market valuation of properties at least every five years, so that we have a real idea of what they are worth in economic terms. In addition, external audits and monitoring through modern asset management systems are necessary, not to mention the constant updating of public agencies on changes in real estate structures.

Estate planning is a set of best practices aimed at caring for the institution’s assets to ensure their protection, growth, longevity, and sustainability.

Good wealth management allows us to identify and manage assets correctly today, tomorrow, and in the future.

When we talk about the management of the institution’s assets, we must always keep in mind how to optimize the available resources in the best possible way for the sustainability of the mission.

Supply of Educational Services – Province of Mediterránea

Javier Sanz and Br. Juan Miguel Anaya

First of all, focusing on education, our Marist Province of Mediterránea has a collegial presence in three countries: Spain, Italy, and Lebanon. This means that educational legislation differs from one country to another. In Spain, there is a regulation on the charging of fees for formal education, as our private schools are not “regular”, but charter schools, receiving a subsidy from the region. However, this does not cover our total expenses, which makes the income from this type of activity, for which we do have the power and freedom to establish the fee to be charged. Beyond the Spanish reality, these revenues represent a very important source of economic resources in the three areas of the Province.

We can divide this additional source of resources into three blocks: extracurricular activities “in general”, extracurricular sports activities (sports clubs), and other sources of financing.

Extracurricular activities are those that take place outside the student’s school period. These activities fulfill the demands of families, where both parents work full-time.

Examples of these activities include robotics, judo, dance, languages, chess, gymnastics, and other activities…

In our case, we have developed these activities in three different formats: self-management (expenses and income are managed and organized directly by the school), mixed management (income managed by the school and expenses on behalf of a third party that organizes the activity), and external management (income and expenses managed by a third party, with the school obtaining an income through a lease contract formalized with the organizing company).

The Province promotes and encourages the implementation of the third model in all schools. We see how the advantages (management of personnel, payment collection and returns, lack of success of the business…) outweigh the disadvantages (mainly the lower revenue to be obtained from the profit that the organizing company takes).

In the case of external management, the rental contract (which is always annual and can be reviewed every year) is formalized by the Institution, not by the school, since the school is the owner of the property. This also allows for greater control at the provincial level of these activities carried out at the school. We try to look for prestigious companies that add value to our education and make it more attractive to attend our schools.

Regarding extracurricular sports activities a handover process has been followed for the sports clubs. Previously, these activities were loss-making, and the income was not adapted to the reality of their expenses, so it was necessary to have a third-party (sports club) management to make it effective, efficient, and profitable. The club has its tax identification code, its labor, tax, and legal advisors, and its staff, and complies with its tax obligations. Despite this, it is not a third party detached from the Institution (Marists Sports Club “X”). It is supervised at the local level by the Management Team and at the provincial level by a person in charge of its follow-up. The profit that reverts to the school from the club is derived from a lease agreement for the use of the facilities (would be a similar case to the external management).

The third point would be other sources of financing, such as the sale of books and didactic material, the sale of sportswear and uniforms (unique design for all schools, with the Province’s logo, avoiding stocking problems, and formalizing a contract from the Province (with an external company who will carry out all the management), and rentals of other school spaces (canteen, chapel, assembly hall…). The aim is to obtain resources using the means at our disposal.

Management of an International Province

Paul Burges and Bernard Kenna

Paul Burges and Bernard Kenna presented the establishment, on 8 December 2022, of the new Province of Star of the Sea. The presentation focused on 5 main areas of Governance and Management.

1. The Marist International region of Oceania becoming one Province of the institute

• This provided geographical context for bursars from other regions of the institute.

2. Our journey to the new Province

• This journey was explained providing the timing of change commenced in 2010 from 3 Provinces and 1 District to 1 Province -The Star of the Sea in December 2022

3. Planning, Process and Structures

• The various Planning committees were explained such as the Province Development Committee, Executive Committee, and the various working groups. The Finance and Business Services working Group was used as an example to explain in more detail the terms of reference, Committee membership and the reporting requirements of the group.

4. The first six months

• This provided the early actions and approach taken as the new Province took its initial steps such as the established 15 new Commission that covered the various Ministries of the Province.

5. Future stages and Developments

• The increased level of communication, information gathering, exploring differences, and finding similarities was discussed.
• The understanding of Various computer systems, the range of finance & Administrative skill sets, the different pressures and priorities and the tension between decentralisation and centralisation were highlighted.
• The data collection process for the establishment of the new 2024 Province Budget was explained and a hope for the future of an objective for financial sustainability of Ministries within the region over the next 5 years.

Financial vehicles

Br. Alfonso Fernández and Br. Libardo Garzón

At the meeting of Provincial Bursars, two experiences of creating and organizing financial vehicles were presented: the first vehicle, explained by Brother Alfonso Fernández, is an initiative of the provinces of Europe, in which the bases are established for the creation of a financial vehicle in Luxembourg. On the other hand, Brother Libardo Garzón presented the joint proposal of the Provinces of Central America and of Norandina, established in Puerto Rico with UBS Bank. In these financial vehicles, there are already common agreements, and a common investment policy has been established. There are currently other Provinces that have shown interest in joining this latest initiative.

In these experiences of joint management of financial vehicles, multiple advantages have been identified: The first is the need to have clearly defined governance and management bodies, which facilitate their transparency; a policy that allows strategies to be employed in accordance with the needs and objectives of the investments, as well as mitigating risks. Finally, by generating a larger volume, it allows for better economies of scale in negotiations.

These experiences, although they are just beginning, allow us to glimpse a joint path, in which we will continue to build a global Marist family.