Research Center
Select a Topic:
.svg){kind=icon}
Religious K-12 Schools: Endowment Trends and Performance
Earlier this year, Commonfund Institute released the 21st annual Commonfund Benchmarks Study of Independent Schools (“CSIS” or the “Study”), reporting on key investment governance trends and insights... Learn More
Putting Private Credit Headlines in Perspective
Recent articles in the financial press such as the Wall Street Journal and Bloomberg have focused on noted challenges surfacing in private credit investments. Some examples of the headlines: An...
Under Allocating to Private Strategies Could Shortchange Your Mission
Three Considerations for Evaluating Your Exposure The ultimate goal for endowment portfolios is to achieve intergenerational equity, meaning the portfolio should provide a similar level of support to...
Higher Education Price Index Forecast May 2026
According to Commonfund Institute's latest update, HEPI forecasts a 3.6 percent inflation rate for U.S. colleges and universities in fiscal year 2026. The latest forecast, based on data through May...
The PE Secondary Market: What Investors Need to Know
At a recent Commonfund Forum session, Ethan Levine, Head of Secondaries at CF Private Equity, sat down with David Markson, Senior Managing Director at Evercore's Private Capital Advisory Group, and...
Where's the Alpha When Everything Looks Stretched?
Commonfund Forum 2026, held in Hollywood, FL and themed "Navigate Now," brought together leading investment managers and institutional allocators to tackle the most pressing challenges facing...
A Closer Look at Independent Schools with Smaller Endowments
Commonfund, in partnership with NBOA, recently released the 2025 Commonfund Study of Independent Schools (CSIS, or, the “Study”). The Study examines investment performance, governance and management...
Understanding the Evolution of the Natural Resources Opportunity Set
If you believed the headlines from 2015 through 2020, you might have concluded that oil and gas investing was finished — a relic being steadily dismantled by the twin forces of ESG pressure and the...
Mind the Gap: Understanding the Strategic Risk of Skipping a Vintage in Private Equity
In this Commonfund Forum Spotlight session, Felipe Arguello, Managing Director, and Rachel Stavola Clivaz, Director, from Commonfund OCIO will share their recent research findings showing the...
The Trillion Dollar Trend: Mega-IPOs and What They Mean for Capital Markets
The era of trillion-dollar private technology companies is within sight. SpaceX is expected to IPO at a $1.75 trillion valuation, the largest IPO in the history of capital markets. They could soon be...
Charitable Giving in a Changing Policy Landscape
Join hosts George Suttles, Executive Director, and Amanda Novello, Sr. Policy and Research Analyst, in this episode of "Espresso Chats," a series by the Commonfund Institute serving up strong, short...
Inflation Strategies for Independent School Endowments
Inflation impacts independent schools in a variety of ways: it puts additional pressure on endowments and operating budgets, makes it more difficult to meet inflation-adjusted target returns, and...
AI's Productivity Payoff Is Here
When ChatGPT launched in late 2022 and the AI revolution took off, the central question was about whether the staggering sums being invested would ever fulfill the promise of boosting productivity.