Commonfund's Third Annual Invitational Diverse Manager Day

February 22, 2022 |
2 minute read
|

From February 9th-11th, Commonfund held its third Diverse Manager Day event, with 20 managers identified through its Diverse Manager Portal and other sources. These diverse managers1 cover a broad range of asset classes, including equities (5), hedge funds (3), private equity (3), venture capital (3), private credit (3) and real estate (3), and fixed income (1) for a total of 20 managers.

This annual event is an important marker of Commonfund’s commitment to work with partners across the industry who share the firm’s dedication to sourcing, evaluating, and allocating to diverse managers. 

The managers who joined Diverse Manager Day were selected following a comprehensive review of each submission to Commonfund’s Diverse Manager Portal made over the course of 2020 and 2021, for which further conversation was deemed worthwhile. During the event, managers participated in virtual presentations to investment teams representing Commonfund’s Outsourced CIO business, Commonfund Asset Management, and its private capital practice, Commonfund Capital.  

For background, Commonfund launched the Diverse Manager Portal in 2019 to source and expand the firm’s reach to diverse managers within equities, fixed income, hedge funds, real estate and private credit strategies through the receipt and review of due diligence materials. In 2020, the Portal was re-opened permanently and continues to garner new submissions from historically underrepresented groups across a wide range of asset classes including private equity, venture capital and private real assets and sustainability. 

In 2021, Commonfund achieved the following milestones related to its Diverse Manager Portal: 

  • We received a total of 58 submissions from 48 different investment firms. While this was a lower influx of managers to the Portal compared to that of last year (86), we continue to see steady engagement with this base and already this year, as conferences activity has resumed, we have seen an increased rate of submissions relative to last year.
  • With these additions, the Diverse Manager Database now includes more than 280 managers.
  • In addition, Commonfund had over 245 meetings with 146 different diverse managers in 2021, leading to an additional rich source of talent from which to draw for the Diverse Manager Day.
  • In 2021 Commonfund added an additional 13 diverse managers to it’s diverse manager investment roster.

The recent group of submissions and manager meetings spanned eight eligible asset classes. The following chart provides a breakdown of the diversity of participating managers:

Since 2017, Commonfund has been incorporating a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) supplement to the due diligence process for each new manager under evaluation by its investment teams, which is consistent with the evolving industry DEI standards. We recently enhanced the due diligence supplement and implemented other new measures in support of Commonfund’s goals for its “Diversity 2.0” program – a process aimed at gathering and analyzing industry DEI data for the purposes of increasing manager transparency.

Diversity Breakdown of Commonfund Diverse Managers
Summary Number Percent
African American/Black 10 29%
Asian 9 26%
White 8 24%
Latinx 5 15%
Two or more races 2 6%
Total 34 94%
     
Women 14 41%

 

  1. Commonfund diverse managers are generally defined as investment firms with 33 percent or more diverse ownership. Diverse managers include: women, African American/Black, Asian, LatinX, people of indigenous descent, and veterans and/or people with disabilities. This definition applies to managers with whom Commonfund has an active investment.

Caroline Greer

Author

Caroline Greer

Managing Director

Disclaimer

Certain information contained herein has been obtained from or is based on third-party sources and, although believed to be reliable, has not been independently verified. Such information is as of the date indicated, if indicated, may not be complete, is subject to change and has not necessarily been updated. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be given by The Common Fund for Nonprofit Organizations, any of its affiliates or any of its or their affiliates, trustees, directors, officers, employees or advisers (collectively referred to herein as “Commonfund”) or any other person as to the accuracy or completeness of the information in any third-party materials. Accordingly, Commonfund shall not be liable for any direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage suffered by any person as a result of relying on any statement in, or omission from, such third-party materials, and any such liability is expressly disclaimed.

All rights to the trademarks, copyrights, logos and other intellectual property listed herein belong to their respective owners and the use of such logos hereof does not imply an affiliation with, or endorsement by, the owners of such trademarks, copyrights, logos and other intellectual property.

To the extent views presented forecast market activity, they may be based on many factors in addition to those explicitly stated herein. Forecasts of experts inevitably differ. Views attributed to third-parties are presented to demonstrate the existence of points of view, not as a basis for recommendations or as investment advice. Market and investment views of third-parties presented herein do not necessarily reflect the views of Commonfund, any manager retained by Commonfund to manage any investments for Commonfund (each, a “Manager”) or any fund managed by any Commonfund entity (each, a “Fund”). Accordingly, the views presented herein may not be relied upon as an indication of trading intent on behalf of Commonfund, any Manager or any Fund.

Statements concerning Commonfund’s views of possible future outcomes in any investment asset class or market, or of possible future economic developments, are not intended, and should not be construed, as forecasts or predictions of the future investment performance of any Fund. Such statements are also not intended as recommendations by any Commonfund entity or any Commonfund employee to the recipient of the presentation. It is Commonfund’s policy that investment recommendations to its clients must be based on the investment objectives and risk tolerances of each individual client. All market outlook and similar statements are based upon information reasonably available as of the date of this presentation (unless an earlier date is stated with regard to particular information), and reasonably believed to be accurate by Commonfund. Commonfund disclaims any responsibility to provide the recipient of this presentation with updated or corrected information or statements. Past performance is not indicative of future results. For more information please refer to Important Disclosures.

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Disclaimer

Certain information contained herein has been obtained from or is based on third-party sources and, although believed to be reliable, has not been independently verified. Such information is as of the date indicated, if indicated, may not be complete, is subject to change and has not necessarily been updated. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be given by The Common Fund for Nonprofit Organizations, any of its affiliates or any of its or their affiliates, trustees, directors, officers, employees or advisers (collectively referred to herein as “Commonfund”) or any other person as to the accuracy or completeness of the information in any third-party materials. Accordingly, Commonfund shall not be liable for any direct, indirect or consequential loss or damage suffered by any person as a result of relying on any statement in, or omission from, such third-party materials, and any such liability is expressly disclaimed.

All rights to the trademarks, copyrights, logos and other intellectual property listed herein belong to their respective owners and the use of such logos hereof does not imply an affiliation with, or endorsement by, the owners of such trademarks, copyrights, logos and other intellectual property.

To the extent views presented forecast market activity, they may be based on many factors in addition to those explicitly stated herein. Forecasts of experts inevitably differ. Views attributed to third-parties are presented to demonstrate the existence of points of view, not as a basis for recommendations or as investment advice. Market and investment views of third-parties presented herein do not necessarily reflect the views of Commonfund, any manager retained by Commonfund to manage any investments for Commonfund (each, a “Manager”) or any fund managed by any Commonfund entity (each, a “Fund”). Accordingly, the views presented herein may not be relied upon as an indication of trading intent on behalf of Commonfund, any Manager or any Fund.

Statements concerning Commonfund’s views of possible future outcomes in any investment asset class or market, or of possible future economic developments, are not intended, and should not be construed, as forecasts or predictions of the future investment performance of any Fund. Such statements are also not intended as recommendations by any Commonfund entity or any Commonfund employee to the recipient of the presentation. It is Commonfund’s policy that investment recommendations to its clients must be based on the investment objectives and risk tolerances of each individual client. All market outlook and similar statements are based upon information reasonably available as of the date of this presentation (unless an earlier date is stated with regard to particular information), and reasonably believed to be accurate by Commonfund. Commonfund disclaims any responsibility to provide the recipient of this presentation with updated or corrected information or statements. Past performance is not indicative of future results. For more information please refer to Important Disclosures.