All major investment decisions of the Crocus Fund are made by the board while certain discretionary authority is delegated to fund officers. An Advisory Council, consisting of senior business and financial leaders in Manitoba, has also been established to assist directors and officers of the Crocus Fund.
The Chairperson of the Board of Directors currently is Susan Hart-Kulbaba who is also the President of the MFL. The President and Chief Executive Officer is Sherman Kreiner.
In 1995, the Crocus Fund employed nine persons.
An eligible investor in the Crocus Fund is defined as any Manitoba resident at the time of purchasing common (Class A) shares. Common shareholders must keep their investment for no less than seven years. Redemption at an earlier date, without tax penalty, is allowed only in the event of an investor's death, retirement, or circumstances of severe financial hardship, such as involuntary job loss or interruption that goes uncompensated.
As well, the fund has issued Class I shares available to Manitoba institutional and corporate investors. As this share-buying is not eligible for tax credits, institutional shareholders receive purchase warrants to acquire an equivalent amount of shares at a latter date, but at original prices. The fund has enjoined three investors — the Manitoba Credit Union Central, the Manitoba Government Employees Union's strike fund and the pension fund of garment manufacturers and Local 459 of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textiles Workers Union.
The Crocus Fund has taken the individual step of merging the two different approaches to share distribution pioneered by its predecessors. Consequently, it has initiated a two-track system of utilizing union-based agents and resources, on the one hand, and commissioned market professionals, on the other.
Under an arrangement with securities regulators, the fund has adapted the Québec strategy of training union agents to solicit union members and members of the general public in Manitoba. Outside of Québec, this method has been described as “restricted licensing” as distinct from the full exemption granted to the less supervised sales personnel of the Fonds de solidarité. So far, this has been the primary instrument of Crocus Fund sales. In 1995, close to one-half of shareholders, or around 3,000 in total, are MFL-affiliated workers.
In addition, licensed investment dealers and brokers, including mutual fund distributors, sell Crocus shares to their clients. Like Working Opportunity, this track of the Crocus Fund's shareholder recruitment campaign is organized by two “lead” securities firms based in the province.