FT. LAUDERDALE, Fla., Jan. 12, 2016 /PRNewswire/ -- Community Capital Management, Inc. (CCM), a leading fixed income impact investing manager, is pleased to announce that its CRA Qualified Investment Fund Institutional Shares (Ticker: CRANX) ranks among the top 1% of performers in the intermediate government category of 309 funds, as measured by fund tracker Morningstar Inc. for the one-year ending December 31, 2015.

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CRANX returned 2.01% for the year, outperforming the category's return of 0.49% and its benchmark's (Barclays U.S. Aggregate Bond Index) return of 0.55%. As of December 31, 2015, Morningstar rates the Fund's Institutional share class 4 stars overall out of 301 funds. It has $1.8 billion in assets across three share classes (CRAIX/CRANX/CRATX).

"We are extremely proud of the Fund's financial and community impact performance as well as it being fossil fuel free," said David Sand, chief investment strategist and interim chief impact investment officer of CCM. "In addition to ranking among the top 1% of performers in the category, we are equally proud of the Fund's bespoke impact portfolio and community impact performance, having invested $512 million in 2015 and $5.8 billion since inception (August, 1999) in bonds financing economic and environmentally sustainable initiatives."

One example of its positive impact is a taxable municipal bond purchased on behalf of The Cordes Foundation. Proceeds were used to acquire 187 dwelling units as part of the Seola Crossing rental housing component of the King County Housing Authority's Greenbridge HOPE VI Redevelopment Project to provide housing for low-income people in Seattle. The neighborhood features an Educare Early Learning Center and YWCA Adult Learning Center. The YWCA opens doors to opportunity and self-sufficiency for women and families facing poverty, violence and discrimination. Greenbridge won the 10-Minute Neighborhood Award, given by the International Making Cities Livable Council, which recognizes neighborhoods where people live within a 10-minute walk to grocery stores, transit, parks, and other essential services, lessening environmental impacts and promoting healthy lifestyles.

"The Fund offers shareholders individual customization by investing back into their communities or in alignment with their mission while enjoying the liquidity of an open-end bond fund," said Todd Cohen, chief executive officer and chief investment officer of CCM. "Its allocation to non-indexed government-related sectors of the bond market has enabled it to excel in risk-off years such as 2002, 2008, 2011 and 2015. With high yield and corporate bond spreads continuing to widen and weakness in the equity market persisting, we feel CRANX is positioned well as a defensive strategy looking ahead into 2016."

About Community Capital Management, Inc.

Community Capital Management, Inc. (CCM) is an independently-owned investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Headquartered in Fort Lauderdale, Florida with offices in Charlotte, North Carolina and Boston, Massachusetts, the firm was founded in 1998 and currently manages over $2 billion in assets as of 12/31/15. CCM's flagship intermediate fixed impact investing strategy is available as a separate account or via a mutual fund. Other products managed by CCM include a liquid alternative income fund and customized separate account strategies. For more information, please visit www.ccmfixedincome.com.

Impact numbers quoted are approximate. As of December 31, 2015, the 1-year, 5-year and 10-year returns for the Institutional share class are 2.01%, 3.07%, and 4.00%, respectively. Performance prior to March 31, 2007 is that of the CRA Shares (CRAIX). The performance quoted represents past performance. Past performance does not guarantee future results. The investment return and principal value of an investment will fluctuate, so that an investor's shares, when redeemed may be worth more or less than their original cost and current performance may be lower or higher than the performance quoted. For performance data current to the most recent month-end, please call 866-202-3573. The total annual operating expense for the Institutional share class (CRANX) is 0.47%. Performance and expenses for other share classes will vary. Holdings are subject to change. As of 12/31/15, the Seola Crossing investment represented 0.23% of the Fund's total assets.

Investing involves risk including the loss of principal. Bond and bond funds are subject to interest rate risk and will decline in value as interest rates rise. The Fund is not diversified. The CRA Qualified Investment Fund is distributed by SEI Investments Distribution Co. (SIDCO) which is not affiliated with Community Capital Management.

Carefully consider the risks, investment objectives, charges and expenses of the Fund before investing. The prospectus contains this and other important information. Call 866-202-3573 for a prospectus. Please read the prospectus carefully before investing.

Community Capital Management, Inc. is a Florida-based investment adviser registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Investment Advisers Act of 1940.

© 2015 Morningstar. All Rights Reserved. The information contained herein: (1) is proprietary to Morningstar and/or its content providers; (2) may not be copied or distributed; and (3) is not warranted to be accurate, complete or timely. Neither Morningstar nor its content providers are responsible for any damages or losses arising from any use of this information.

Please note, some of the Morningstar proprietary calculations, including the Morningstar Rating(TM), are not customarily calculated based on adjusted historical returns. The evaluation of this investment does not affect the retail mutual fund data published by Morningstar. For each retail mutual fund with at least a three-year history, Morningstar calculates a Morningstar Rating(TM) based on a Morningstar Risk-Adjusted Return measure that accounts for variation in a fund's monthly performance (including the effects of sales charges, loads, and redemption fees), placing more emphasis on downward variations and rewarding consistent performance. The top 10% of funds in each category receive 5 stars, the next 22.5% receive 4 stars, the next 35% receive 3 stars, the next 22.5% receive 2 stars and the bottom 10% receive 1 star. (Each share class is counted as a fraction of one fund within this scale and rated separately, which may cause slight variations in the distribution percentages.) The Overall Morningstar Rating for a retail mutual fund is derived from a weighted average of the performance figures associated with its three-, five- and ten-year (if applicable) Morningstar Rating metrics. This investment's independent Morningstar Rating metric is then compared against the retail mutual fund universe breakpoints to determine its hypothetical rating. The CRA Qualified Investment Fund was rated against the following numbers of U.S.-domiciled Intermediate Government funds over the following time periods: 301 funds in the last three years, 288 funds in the last five years, and 218 funds in the last ten years. With respect to these Intermediate Government funds, the CRA Qualified Investment Fund CRA share class received a Morningstar Rating of 3 stars for the three-, five- and ten-year periods. The CRA Qualified Investment Fund Institutional share class received a Morningstar Rating of 4 stars, 4 stars and 3 stars for the three-, five- and ten-year periods, respectively. The CRA Qualified Investment Fund Retail share class received a Morningstar Rating of 3 stars, 4 stars and 3 stars for the three-, five- and ten-year periods, respectively.

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SOURCE Community Capital Management, Inc.