Endowments and Foundations - Articles & White Papers
Institutional research and articles covering investing at university endowments, foundations, non-profits and charities. These papers will be of particular interest to university endowment CIOs and other senior endowment investment management staff. A number of white papers examine endowment asset allocation - examining the so-called "endowment model" pioneered by the Harvard and Yale university endowments, represented by a well-diversified portfolio with a relatively high asset allocation to alternative investments. Other popular papers examine trends in university endowment investing and other drivers of endowment asset allocation....
Other topics of inveterest to endowment CIOs include university endowment investment performance and the potential for endowment investments to impact the world positively, investing according to an ESG or SRI philosophy. A key challenge for university endowments, foundations and charities is to withdraw cash in a sustainable manner, and a number of reports look at sustainable "withdrawal rates". A number of broader investment concepts are considered from an endowment/foundation perspective, such as the outsourced chief investment officer (O CIO) model, risk management and active equity investment. Further research articles and surveys in this section cover issues related to endowment investment performance, investment risk tolerance, and strategies for nonprofit institutional investors. This endowment investing topics tends to be followed not just by university endowment CIOs and senior investment staff, but also by those who are seeking to market investment products to endowment funds.
This primer is intended to be a catalyst for conversation and action on racial equity for fiduciaries of university endowments who are looking to learn more about the current state of racial inequity in the U.S. as it relates to the long-term sustainability of the economy.
Fiscal year 2019 was a curious year for the Ivy League endowments. In a year with strong returns in key private market investment classes, the average Ivy underperformed a traditional domestic balanced 60-40 portfolio in FY 2019. Ivies also experienced a wider dispersion of returns and saw a shift in the historical…
Yale’s Endowment generated a 5.7% return, net of fees, in fiscal 2019.Over the past ten years, the Endowment grew from $16.3 billion to $30.3billion. With annual returns of 11.1% during the ten-year period, the Endowment’s performance exceeded its benchmark and outpaced institutional fund indices. For four of the past ten…
This paper reviews the existing literature on Universal Ownership Theory and expands on it to encompass a theoretical and practical framework for Universal Owners in the Anthropocene era. This extension of the theory is necessary because of the scale and urgency of the climate crisis, on one hand, and the expansion of the…
This guide is intended to assist asset owners in assessing their managers’ effectiveness in addressing systemic social and environmental risks and rewards. Systemic social and environmental challenges such as climate change, income inequality, access to fresh water, and gender diversity are, among others, an emerging feature…
This paper from the Financial Analysts Journal examines whether university endowments really act as long term investors and investigates their moves into equities, and more latterly, alternatives. The behaviour of 12 major universities was examined using data back to 1945, and comparisons drawn with earlier periods. Analysis…
Universities, philanthropies, cultural institutions and other not-for-profit organizations are contending with significant financial hardship brought on by COVID-19. BNY Mellon investigates performance among large and small endowments, and presents some interesting observations.
Endowment funds in the U.S., large and small, significantly underperform passive investment. Moreover, an analysis of the performance of 43 of the largest individual endowments over the 11 years ended June 30, 2019, reveals that none outperformed with statistical significance, while one in four underperformed with…
Managing investments is a complicated business. The understanding of the investment strategies and the time and energy it takes to manage portfolios leads to why an outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) is an important solution for non-profit organizations. Heather Myers, Non-Profit Solutions Leader at Aon Investments,…
In State Street's continuing CEO Perspectives series, Ron O’Hanley speaks to Jagdeep Singh Bachher, the Chief Investment Officer for the University of California, one of the largest research universities in the world. Jagdeep describes his own ESG journey as an investor and argues that investment team cultural changes around…
What are the basic features of donor-advised funds (DAFs) and what are the considerations in the asset allocation decision for a given donor? This brief blog post explains further.
New data from CAPTRUST shows there is a continued misalignment between foundations’ and endowments’ expected returns, risk preferences and asset allocations.Discussing the findings with PLANADVISER, James Stenstrom, senior manager of asset and liability at CAPTRUST, and Eric Bailey, principal and financial adviser at…
This annual study analyzes return data and a broad range of related information gathered from U.S. colleges and universities, both public and private, as well as their supporting foundations. The size and scope of the study make it the most comprehensive annual report on the investment management and governance practices and…
Most colleges and universities of all sizes have an endowment, a fund that provides a stream of income and maintains the corpus of the fund in perpetuity. Organizations with large endowments, such as colleges, universities, and private foundations, all finance a significant part of their operations through the return…
For the second straight year, Brown outperformed all other Ivy endowments by a large margin. MPI's research team, using MPI Stylus Pro to dissect the endowment annual returns, provides a plausible explanation of the endowment's spectacular results.
Colleges, universities, and affiliated foundations must now contend with a confluence of constraints stemming from the global health pandemic. Economic recession threatens charitable contributions and state support. Reduced in-person enrollment puts tuition payments and other revenue sources at risk. The fast fall in demand…
CAPTRUST subject matter experts dive into the results of their endowment and foundation market survey. Participants will gain insight into peer data from the nonprofit sector as CAPTRUST's industry experts present survey findings on demographics, performance trends, objectives and risks, budgeting, and more.
As well as discussing key financials and investments, this Report from Princeton outlines some of the outreach and student transfer programs that the University offers.
