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Investment Strategy | Articles

Mind the Gap: The Strategic Risk of Skipping a Vintage in Private Equity

Private equity (inclusive of buyouts, growth equity, and venture capital) remains a compelling long-term asset class, but recent periods of muted distributions and below-average returns have created...

Perspectives | Press Releases

2025 HEPI Report Released

Inflation for U.S. Higher Education Institutions Rises 3.6% in Fiscal 2025, Up from Fiscal 2024 Rate Norwalk, Conn., December 11, 2025 – Data from the annual Higher Education Price Index® (HEPI) show...

Investment Strategy | Videos

Chief Investment Officers Share Their Thoughts at Forum 2025

Commonfund hosted its annual Commonfund Forum 2025, March 9-11th, in Orlando, Florida. The agenda included a range of sessions on relevant topics for institutional investors. This Forum Spotlight...

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Diversity | Spotlight

Grain Management: Three Questions with David Grain

Commonfund OCIO Managing Director, Paul Von Steenburg, interviews David Grain, Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Grain Management in this Commonfund Manager Spotlight.
Perspectives | Insights Blog

Study of Endowments - Key Highlights [Infographic] 2023

For fiscal year 2023, U.S. higher education endowments reported an average return (net of fees) on their endowment assets of 7.7 percent. In this infographic, we report the key highlights from the...
Market Commentary | Podcasts

Commonfund OCIO Point of View

Episode 2 In this episode we cover our macro-economic outlook, portfolio diversification and the role of hedge funds. Lastly, we give our perspective on the markets going forward.
Perspectives | Press Releases

Commonfund Study of Independent Schools Released for FY2023

Independent Schools Report 9.2% Return on Endowment Assets for FY2023, Marking Reversal from Last Year’s -11.3% Loss Returns Rebound; New Gifts to Endowments Fall, Responsible Investing Tempers...
Perspectives | Press Releases

FY23 NACUBO-Commonfund Study Released

U.S. Higher Education Endowments Report 7.7% Return for FY23 While Spending More in Support of Their Missions 50th anniversary NACUBO-Commonfund Study shows participating colleges and universities...
Perspectives | Insights Blog

The NACUBO Endowment Study: A 50-Year Retrospective

Documenting a Period of Unprecedented Change The NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments (NCSE) for fiscal year 2023 marks the 50th consecutive year that NACUBO has published a Study of the endowments...
Market Commentary | Private Equity Insights

Private Equity in 2024: Where Do We Go from Here?

2023 WRAP-UP 2023 marked a second straight year of lower deal volumes for private equity following the record-breaking activity of 2021. U.S. private equity aggregate deal value declined to $645.3...
Market Commentary | Insights Blog

China Continues to Drag Emerging Markets into 2024

2023 marked the third year of drawdowns for the Chinese equity markets, reflecting a country still trying to emerge from the pandemic period. A combination of factors continued to hamper the once...
Diversity | Insights Blog

Celebrating Black History Month: A Resource Guide

Black History Month is an annual celebration of achievements by African Americans and a time for recognizing their central role in U.S. history. Also known as African American History Month, the...
Diversity | Insights Blog

Commonfund Announces 2024 Diverse Manager Day

Commonfund begins the New Year with the exciting prospect of continuing to build out our diverse manager commitments. In 2023, we hit a milestone, reaching 10.9 percent of assets under management...
Investment Strategy | Private Equity Insights

Unlocking Sustainable Investment: Insights from Ethan Levine

At SuperReturn Energy, Ethan Levine, Managing Director, CF Private Equity, discussed the continued focus on sustainability and ESG, touching on net zero, decarbonization and climate pledges.
Private Equity | Private Equity Insights

COP28 Reflections: Can Intention Be Met With Action?

The 28th Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (“COP28”) recently concluded in Dubai on December 13th, 2023. Unique to this year’s conference was the...