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Governance And Policy | Insights Blog
5 Takeaways from the 2026 NACUBO Annual Meeting
If you've already read Inside Higher Ed's recap of the NACUBO Annual Meeting (held in Anaheim from July 18-21), "A Call to Meet the Moment at NACUBO,” you know federal policy uncertainty dominated...
Featured
Governance And Policy | Insights Blog
Philanthropy and Fundraising: Trends & Leadership Insights
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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
FY25 NACUBO-Commonfund Study Released
U.S. Higher Education Endowments Report Stable Returns, Increase Spending to $33.4 Billion in FY25 The NACUBO-Commonfund Study of 657 colleges and universities reports a 10-year average return of...
Investment Strategy | Videos
Understanding the Private Equity Secondaries Market
This Commonfund Institute Online video explores the evolving landscape of the private equity secondaries market, focusing on both Limited Partner (LP)- and General Partner (GP)-led transactions.
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Featured
Governance and Policy | Insights Blog
Endowment Purpose and UPMIFA: What Nonprofit Boards Must Ask
Purpose | Principle I | Principles of Investment Stewardship The Question Every Endowment Fiduciary Should Be Asking For many nonprofit organizations, the endowment is the difference between... Learn Moreeducational-endowments
Governance And Policy | Videos
Meeting Mission through Investments - Commonfund Coffee Talk
Meeting Mission through Investments The first session in our Commonfund Coffee Talk 2023 series, foundation leaders discuss mission-oriented investment strategies, governance, implementation, and...
Market Commentary | Private Equity Insights
The Impact of the Rising Cost of Debt on Private Equity
As the cost of debt on private equity ("PE") has risen and its availability has fallen, deal-making within PE has slowed. PE firms that have historically been overly reliant on leverage in financing...
educational-endowments
Investment Strategy | Insights Blog
City of the Big Shoulders: Key Takeaways from our Chicago CIO/CFO Roundtable
For more than 50 years, Commonfund has been working with boards and investment committees to design and implement investment structures that support and maintain intergenerational equity - the...
educational-endowments
Market Commentary | Podcasts
Is a Hard Landing Priced In? Rates, Credit & Real Estate
Episode 1 Is a hard landing priced into markets? In the debut episode of the Commonfund OCIO podcast, Chief Investment Officer Deborah Spalding and Chief Investment Strategist Kris Kwait break down...
Market Commentary | Private Equity Insights
Venture Capital Valuation "Marks": What’s in Your Wallet?
In order to underwrite new commitments in an uncertain market environment, it is critical to normalize valuation methodologies and deeply analyze underlying portfolio companies.
educational-endowments
Governance And Policy | Insights Blog
Increasing Use of OCIO Relationships Requires New Governance Considerations
More and more endowments and foundations are entering outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) relationships as long-term mission-aligned investing becomes mired in the complexity of rapidly...
community_foundation
Perspectives | Insights Blog
Viewpoint | Analyzing Community Foundation Data by Region
For the 2022 Council on Foundations - Commonfund Study of Foundations, we provided an analysis of community foundation data by five geographic regions. Community foundations lend themselves to this...
educational-endowments
Market Commentary | Insights Blog
Yield Curve Dynamics in Focus to Close 2023
After a relatively tame summer, significant cross-asset volatility has returned with both the MOVE and VIX indices increasing by 37 and 48 percent respectively, after approaching the lows for 2023 in...
educational-endowments
Investment Strategy | Insights Blog
Private Credit Today
On September 27th, Commonfund OCIO hosted an event in Minneapolis at the O’Shaughnessy Distilling Co. Following a tour and tasting at the facility, Nicole Melwood, Director, and Vincent Kravec,...
Market Commentary | Private Equity Insights
Inflation Reduction Act: Catalyst for U.S. Domestic Solar Manufacturing
In the context of rising resource security concerns amid the energy transition, legislators and regulators across the developed West are making a concerted effort to re-orient resource supply chains....
educational-endowments
Governance And Policy | Insights Blog
Commonfund on the Road: Insights from our California Roundtables
For over 50 years, Commonfund has been working with boards and committee members helping endowments and foundations to sustain their missions over many generations and promoting best practices in...
Investment Strategy | Private Equity Insights
Is Venture Capital Going Back to the Future? Reemergence of the Power Law of Returns
The importance of manager selection is back.
Mission-Aligned Investing for Endowments & Foundations