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Around the Horn: Risks and Opportunities in Global Capital Markets
Commonfund recently hosted its 28th annual Commonfund Forum, February 25th-28th, in Hollywood, Florida. In this Forum Spotlight, Commonfund asset class leaders will discuss their approach to...
The End of Asset-Light: How AI Is Accelerating Technology Spending
For most of their existence, the world's largest technology companies operated on a model that seemed almost too good to be true. Companies like Microsoft, Meta, Alphabet, Amazon, and Oracle... Learn More
Viewpoint | The Yin and Yang of Risk and Return
The conundrum of risk and return is that you can’t have one without the other. The key is finding the right balance for your foundation.
Bright Spots for Foundations in 2022 and Early 2023
In a period where individual giving was down, historic levels of inflation put pressure on markets and the real economy, private and community foundations were asked to provide more resources to...
Study of Foundations - Key Highlights [Infographic] 2022
In this infographic, we report the key highlights from the 2022 Council on Foundations-Commonfund Study of Foundations. For the year ended December 31, 2022, participating foundations reported an...
Global Currency Returns Diverge
A year ago, the dollar was approaching multi-decade highs as global currencies coped with the most aggressive FOMC hiking cycle of the last forty years.
Observations from the 2023 NACUBO Annual Meeting
Last month, I had the pleasure of attending the NACUBO Annual Meeting in Orlando, FL, where nearly 2,000 representatives from higher education institutions across North America came together to share...
Affirmative Action: Implications for Endowments, Foundations, and the Broader Industry
Affirmative action, a practice used since the 1960s to edge toward equity and address historical and ongoing injustice through higher education attainment, was struck down last month by the Supreme...
Three Fundamental Duties of Nonprofit Boards
It is essential that trustees of endowed portfolios hold themselves accountable to a set of standards in order to maintain sound governance practices. Fiduciary duty is an important part of the...
Markets Signal Higher for Longer Interest Rates
Market sentiment on bonds continues to trend lower, leaving the overall open interest in short-dated U.S. Treasury futures net short at an unprecedented level. There is the potential that these short...
The Value of Collective Learning: Takeaways from the Commonfund Institute 2023 Investment Stewardship Academy
In June 2023, the Commonfund Institute hosted 36 nonprofit leaders on the campus of Yale University for our premier educational event – the Investment Stewardship Academy (ISA). Much has changed...
Commonfund on the Road: Insights from our Seattle Roundtable
Commonfund OCIO recently hosted a roundtable luncheon in Seattle, WA, for local nonprofit leaders. During our time together, we discussed how institutions can attain intergenerational equity in their...
Fiscal Year-End and Mid-Year 2023 Market and Investment Review
The end of fiscal year 2023, and mid-point of the calendar year, marks the end of the pandemic years. At this point, many have returned to the workplace, at least part time, in-person meetings have...
Are LP Secondary Transactions Racing to a Record Year?