Armenian Church Endowment Fund (ACEF)

Armenian Church Endowment Fund (ACEF)

The Armenian Church Endowment Fund (ACEF) was established in 1973 as an independent nonprofit to serve the Eastern Diocese of the Armenian Church of America. Gregory Zorthian, son of one of the original founders, now chairs the board after three decades of service. ACEF pools individual parish and diocesan endowment funds into a single, professionally managed portfolio — a structure designed to deliver institutional-grade diversification to small church communities. ACEF deploys capital across a broad alternative-heavy mix, including U.S. private real estate secondary strategies, a core and healthcare real estate portfolio, multi-strategy commodity exposure, buyout, distressed debt, venture capital from seed to late stage, and fund-of-funds. The fund's real estate book includes mixed-use assets in North America. ACEF also manages endowments that underwrite the Fund for Armenian Relief's humanitarian programs, linking investment returns directly to operational philanthropy. Board members hail from investment and legal firms including Arax Investment Partners (Haig Ariyan, former Investment Committee Chair) and McDermott Will & Emery (Kristine Manoukian). Vice Chairman Kirk S. Hachigian leads the current investment committee. The board maintains ties to professional networks such as YPO and the Armenian Bar Association. Day-to-day operations are run by Executive Director Lisa Kazanjian. The platform remains anchored to its beneficiary network — the Eastern Diocese, FAR, and overlapping leadership with the Armenian General Benevolent Union — which shapes both its capital inflows and its mission-driven governance. ACEF operates a hybrid structure uncommon among faith-based endowments: an independent 501(c)(3) that serves as both custodian and investment manager for multiple church entities, separating fiduciary oversight from parish control while keeping all assets within the Armenian Church ecosystem. Board members bridge philanthropic and investment worlds, and the fund's aggregated scale allows it to access alternatives that individual parishes could not diligence on their own — a governance model that pairs institutional rigor with ecclesiastical accountability.