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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 Morecommunity_college
Outsourced Cio | Videos
Video Guide to Investment Outsourcing
One critical decision nonprofit boards continue to face is how best to implement an investment policy. They typically face three options for doing so.
community_college
Governance And Policy | Articles
Writing an Outsourced CIO RFP
Once an institution decides to pursue the outsourced CIO or investment office option, it usually leads to the creation of a request for proposal, or RFP. Considering that the OCIO model is a...
educational-endowments
Governance And Policy | Insights Blog
Why Governance Matters to ESG
According to the Financial Times “Investing within an ESG framework is now the fastest-growing segment of the asset management industry.” In line with this growth is the increasing number of...
educational-endowments
Investment Strategy | Insights Blog
The Endowment Model Proves Its Worth (Again)
Unless you’ve been on a remote island with no Wi-Fi for the past nine months, you are well aware that it has been a rough start for capital markets. In fact, it has been a historically rough start to...
foundations
Governance And Policy | Insights Blog
Investment Objectives? Not Always.
The 2021 Council on Foundations—Commonfund Study of Investment of Endowments for Private and Community Foundations® (CCSF) marked our tenth year in collaboration with the Council on Foundations. The...
educational-endowments
Governance And Policy | Articles
Seven Promising Practices for the Future of Higher Education
Even before the pandemic, the college/university business model was under scrutiny. With rising tuition costs outpacing living wages, and student debt burdens crippling students, institutions of...
educational-endowments
Diversity | Spotlight
Michael Torres Talks about Adelante Capital Management
Commonfund Managing Director, Paul Von Steenburg, interviews Michael Torres, Chief Executive Officer of Adelante Capital Management in this Commonfund Manager Spotlight.
Governance And Policy | Insights Blog
Asset Allocation: Controlling for the Variables
Our 2021 Council on Foundations-Commonfund Study of Foundations marked our 10th year in collaboration with Council on Foundations and the Commonfund Institute to measure, analyze and document the...
educational-endowments
Market Commentary | Insights Blog
The Trouble with Europe
As U.S.-based investors, our clients tend to focus on issues closer to home when evaluating portfolio positioning. Most conversations are focused on the political climate, FOMC actions, localized...
foundations
Governance And Policy | Insights Blog
Research Shows 10-Year Returns for Foundations Reach Highest Point
Our 2021 Council on Foundations-Commonfund Study of Foundations marked our 10th year in collaboration with Council on Foundations and the Commonfund Institute to measure, analyze and document the...
foundations
Governance And Policy | Insights Blog
Better Benchmarking: What Makes Your Institution Unique Matters
There is no doubt that benchmarking is a good practice for institutions to follow – we publish studies each year for various nonprofit sectors for that reason. While we think that benchmarking is...
educational-endowments
Manager Spotlight | Spotlight
Richard Turnley, III Chats about Channing Capital Management, LLC
Commonfund Director, Betsy Wilson, interviews Richard Turnley, III, Director of Channing Capital Management, LLC in this Commonfund Manager Spotlight.
Mission-Aligned Investing for Endowments & Foundations