Topic: Commonfund Forum

Commonfund Forum | Insights Blog

Private Equity: Responding Tactically, Changing Strategically

The current year has seen an enormous amount of change packed into a few months: breakout inflation, rising interest rates, war in Ukraine, COVID mutations and stubborn supply chain problems. We know...
Commonfund Forum | Insights Blog

Diversity and Diversification: The People Edge in Portfolios

Can diverse people managing investment portfolios deliver an edge in performance? A growing body of research shows that diverse managers—defined by gender, race, ethnicity or other...
Commonfund Forum | Videos

Accessing Sustainable Opportunities Through Private Equity Strategies

Institutional investors around the world have appropriately turned their attention to the sustainability of their investment portfolios. Investors have pivoted from discussion to action as generally...
Commonfund Forum | Insights Blog

Real Estate Today … and the Trends Likely To Shape Tomorrow

As it burst onto the world scene in 2020, COVID-19 impacted asset classes and investment strategies across the board. While real estate was no exception, the industry managed a generally strong...
Commonfund Forum | Insights Blog

Diversifying Your Fixed Income Portfolio With a Private Credit Allocation

Inflation, rising interest rates, inversion in the yield curve and the war in Ukraine combined to make 1Q22 a challenge for many asset classes and strategies. While there was the isolated shelter...
Commonfund Forum | Videos

The Great Reset: The Emerging Age of Re-imagination, Reconnection and Renewal – and Generation RE

A great reset is now upon us. Less obvious is the reality that the world was quietly being reset prior to the pandemic. The rules of business were being rewritten by an extraordinary cadre of...
Commonfund Forum | Videos

CIO Roundtable

Fiduciaries are entrusted with fulfilling their organization’s mission largely through effective stewardship of financial assets. In the 50+ years since Commonfund was founded, perpetual investing...
Commonfund Forum | Insights Blog

10 Key Takeaways from Commonfund Forum 2022

Commonfund recently hosted its 24th annual Commonfund Forum in Orlando, Florida. The event brought together 200+ institutional investors from the U.S., the Virgin Islands, and Canada in a 2.5 day...
Commonfund Forum | Insights Blog

Hitting the Hot Buttons: Investing for the Next 2 to 4 Years

Commonfund Forum 2022 featured an expert panel representing diverse perspectives to probe beyond the headline-grabbing news that has been driving financial markets in recent months. The accompanying...
Commonfund Forum | Videos

Imagining What's Next for the Global Economy

If someone had told you in January of 2020 that the world would be plunged into a global pandemic the likes of which had not been seen since 1918, you probably would have guessed that the impacts on...
Commonfund Forum | Insights Blog

Forum 2022 Key Statistics [Infographic]

Commonfund recently hosted its 24th annual Commonfund Forum, March 16-18th, in Orlando, Florida. The event brought together institutional investors to engage in a three-day conference to explore...
Commonfund Forum | Insights Blog

ESG and Sustainable Investing

ESG and environmentally sustainable investment are increasingly capturing the attention of the institutional investment community. To assess the state of ESG and sustainable investing and how they...
Commonfund Forum | Articles

Venture Investing: Insights into China’s Dynamic Healthcare Industry

Seeking growth and diversification, institutional investors have long included emerging markets exposure in their portfolios. The agenda for Commonfund Forum 2021 included a session dedicated to...
Commonfund Forum | Videos

Investing in ESG and Sustainability

ESG and environmentally sustainable investments are increasingly capturing the attention of the institutional investment community. Historically, we saw more conversation and less broad investment...
Commonfund Forum | Insights Blog

How Your Organization Can Nurture Innovation While Balancing Risk

The theme for Commonfund Forum 2021 was “Transformation.” The objective of the agenda was to deliver timely, useful content on core subjects related to nonprofit endowment and financial management...
Commonfund Forum | Insights Blog

Fareed Zakaria Dissects the Challenges Shaping the Post-Pandemic World

The theme for Commonfund Forum 2021 was “Transformation.” The objective of the agenda was to deliver timely, useful content on core subjects related to nonprofit endowment and financial management...
Commonfund Forum | Insights Blog

Forum 2021 Key Statistics [Infographic]

We recently hosted our first virtual Commonfund Forum. The event brought together institutional investors and faculty members from around the globe to engage in a two-day conference. Commonfund Forum...
Commonfund Forum | Press Releases

Commonfund Survey Finds Nonprofit Investors Cautious, but Confident

Nonprofit Investors Cautious About Stock Market in 2021, but Confident in Long-Term Prospects, Commonfund Survey Finds More than 75 Percent of Endowments and Foundations are Optimistic About...
Commonfund Forum | Videos

Forum 2021 | Welcome Address

Mark Anson, PhD, CFA, CAIA, Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer, Commonfund, welcomes you to Commonfund Forum 2021. This video is a Commonfund Forum 2021 Spotlight. Click here to...
Commonfund Forum | Videos

A Fireside Chat with Darren Walker | From Generosity to Justice

Forum 2021 keynote speaker and Ford Foundation President, Darren Walker, shares his bold vision for the future of philanthropy. Since his arrival in 2013, Mr. Walker has transformed the venerable...
Commonfund Forum | Videos

Infinite Challenges, Endless Opportunities, Finite Resources

Board members, trustees and others that have oversight of endowed portfolios have well-documented fiduciary duties that govern how they carry out those responsibilities. In times of relative calm,...
Commonfund Forum | Videos

Tools for Creating Effective Strategic Policy

Commonfund has worked with nonprofit investors for 50 years. Over that time, we have developed a set of proprietary tools and data to assist boards and investment committees in their quest to create...
Commonfund Forum | Videos

Promoting Gender Equity in Leadership Roles

Dr. Kellie A. McElhaney is on faculty as a Distinguished Teaching Fellow and the Founding Director of the Center for Equity, Gender and Inclusion (EGAL) at the Haas School of Business at the...
Commonfund Forum | Insights Blog

From Generosity to Justice | Observations from the President of Ford Foundation

The theme for Commonfund Forum 2021 was “Transformation.” The objective of the agenda was to deliver timely, useful content on core subjects related to nonprofit endowment and financial management...
Commonfund Forum | Videos

An Insider's Guide to the Chinese Economy

Commonfund CEO and CIO, Mark Anson, hosted Leland Miller, CEO of China Beige Book. Mr. Miller shared his proprietary research and insights in this exclusive session for Commonfund Forum registrants....
Commonfund Forum | Insights Blog

Commonfund Forum Goes Global

During the week of October 14th, 2019 Commonfund Institute hosted our first Forum outside of the United States in Tokyo, Japan. We were honored to be joined by many leading Japanese institutional...
Commonfund Forum | Insights Blog

Commonfund Forum: A Carbon Neutral Event in 2019

In just two years Commonfund will celebrate its 50th anniversary as a non-profit investment manager for educational endowments, foundations and other tax-exempt investors. Throughout those almost...
Commonfund Forum | Videos

CIO Roundtable: The Past, Present and Future of Endowment Investing

Fiduciaries of nonprofit organizations are entrusted with fulfilling the missions of their organizations in large part through effective stewardship of financial assets. In the 50 years since the...
Commonfund Forum | Insights Blog

Risk Management and Operations: 5 Takeaways from Commonfund Forum 2019

The majority of investors’ attention is often focused on the performance of the funds or managers in their portfolio.  And rightfully so.  The numbers that appear on statements month after month will...
Commonfund Forum | Articles

Dynamic Workforce = Dynamic Portfolios

The Surprising Outcomes When Diverse Groups and Homogeneous Groups Tackle the Same Problem In late 2018, Commonfund established a Diversity Office with the objective of benefiting from the strengths...
Commonfund Forum | Insights Blog

A sit-down with Richard Fisher

As a follow-on to the Commonfund Forum 2019 panel discussion, The Global Economy and the Return of Risk, Richard Fisher, former President and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Dallas,  further...
Commonfund Forum | Articles

The Global Economy and the Return of Risk

How to think about tariffs, deficits, valuations, leverage, growth and other issues What signals should institutions be mindful of as they make portfolio decisions in the current environment? A panel...
Commonfund Forum | Press Releases

Majority of Investors Expect Bull Market to End

Nonprofit Investors Anticipate Weakening Consumer Confidence to Cause End of Bull Market, Commonfund Survey Finds Majority of Endowments, Foundations Expect Bull Market to End Within 2 Years Wilton,...
Commonfund Forum | Videos

Playing to Win

In this Forum 2019 general session, Commonfund experts share research into much of the conventional wisdom around institutional portfolio management, with some surprising results into which...
Commonfund Forum | Videos

Welcome Address and Overview | Forum 2019

Mark Anson, Commonfund Chief Executive Officer and CIO opens Forum 2019 with welcome remarks and a review of the global economy. Download the slides in this presentation. 
Commonfund Forum | Articles

Diversity and Emerging Managers

The benefits of diversity are widely recognized in the work place and among educational institutions and other nonprofits. Yet, the concept of investment management firms that are minority owned and...
Commonfund Forum | Articles

Should Investors Be Concerned with ESG Investing

The subject of ESG, or investing in accord with environmental, social and governance principles, arose in several sessions at Commonfund Forum 2018. One session, in particular, was devoted to the...
Commonfund Forum | Articles

Private Capital: Key to Unlocking Growth in Emerging Markets

After a turbulent period, emerging markets have delivered double-digit returns in recent years. Private investments in emerging markets offer a way to diversify beyond the public markets and, in...
Commonfund Forum | Videos

Evolving Asset Allocation and Policy Portfolios

In this Forum 2018 general session, Commonfund experts share research findings and techniques we employ to help investors understand not just the characteristics of their portfolio in isolation but...
Commonfund Forum | Videos

The Absent Superpower

In this Commonfund Forum 2017 Spotlight, geopolitical strategist and author Peter Zeihan examines how the hard rules of geography are eroding the American commitment to free trade; how much of the...
Commonfund Forum | Articles

CIO Roundtable: Is the Endowment Model a Crowded Trade?

Stuck in the past or ever-evolving? The endowment model gets a hard look eight years into the current market cycle. With core tenets of the endowment model seemingly under stress for the last several...
Commonfund Forum | Videos

No More Gatekeepers

In this Commonfund Forum Spotlight, founder of DonorsChoose.org Charles Best shares how as a 24-year-old teacher at a Bronx high school, he created a model of giving hailed as "the future of...
Commonfund Forum | Videos

Monkeynomics

In this Commonfund Forum 2017 Spotlight, Dr. Laurie Santos demonstrates that primates have much to teach us about our own economic decision-making. Both monkeys and humans know a bargain when they...
Commonfund Forum | Articles

What’s Next for Cash Investors?

In the static low-rate environment of recent years, it seemed as though there was no “what’s next” for cash. Today, that has changed, as there are major forces reshaping the regulatory and interest...
Commonfund Forum | Articles

The Big Picture: Integrating Investments, Finance and Development

Most things function a lot better when all the moving parts work together—nonprofit institutions included. The synergies afforded by collaboration across organizational boundaries may be the most...
Commonfund Forum | Articles

Emerging Markets: Balancing Risk and Reward

Investors poured $2 trillion into emerging economies between 2009 and 2014. Then prices for a basket of commodities fell—dragging crude oil down to levels not seen in a decade and dashing investors’...
Commonfund Forum | Videos

The One World Schoolhouse: Education Reimagined

Sal Khan is the founder of the Khan Academy, a nonprofit with the mission of providing free, high-quality education to “anyone, anywhere” in the world. A former hedge fund analyst with degrees from...
Commonfund Forum | Articles

Evolving Challenges in Nonprofit Governance

Commonfund recently convened an expert panel moderated by Myra Drucker (standing, left), Chair of the Board, TrustedPeer Inc. and former chair of the Commonfund Board of Trustees. The roundtable...