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Diversity | Articles

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...
Perspectives | Press Releases

2023 HEPI Report Released

Inflation for U.S. Higher Education Institutions Rises 4.0% in Fiscal 2023, Down from Fiscal 2022 Rate WILTON, Conn., December 13, 2023 – Data from the annual Commonfund Higher Education Price Index®...
Perspectives | Videos

FY2022 Council on Foundations-Commonfund Study of Foundations Highlights

In a recent webinar, Commonfund Institute and the Council on Foundations reviewed the highlights from the 2022 Council on Foundations-Commonfund Study of Foundations.

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Investment Strategy | Insights Blog

Viewpoint | Top Concerns for Independent Schools

For the first time since the inception of the Study, the FY2023 Commonfund Benchmarks Study® of Independent Schools (CSIS) report asked respondents to identify the top concerns for their... Learn More
Perspectives | Insights Blog

COVID-19 and Nonprofits | Five Observations from China

Although the full effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on U.S. nonprofits will not be known for some time there may be something to learn from what we’re seeing in China. China was the first country to...
Private Equity | Private Equity Insights

Private Capital Secondary Market | An Overview

COVID-19 is impacting the world in unprecedented ways. Today, it is estimated approximately 75 percent of the U.S. population or, almost 250 million people, are staying at home. Globally, over 1.5...
Governance And Policy | Videos

CARES Act | Implications and Opportunities for Nonprofits

On March 27, 2020, President Trump signed into law the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (the “CARES Act”), establishing the largest aid package in our nation’s history. The $2...
Investment Strategy | Insights Blog

Do Bear Markets Favor Active or Passive Investing? It Depends.

In the ongoing debate about active versus passive investing, conventional wisdom posits that active investing outperforms passive in recessionary or bear market environments. The question is: Will...
Market Commentary | Articles

Higher Ed in the Age of COVID-19

Commonfund convenes an expert panel to take on the short- and intermediate-term threats that higher education confronts in the face of a national emergency the likes of which have not been seen for...
Market Commentary | Insights Blog

Chart of the Month | The Dangers of Timing a Bear Market

It has been well documented that trying to avoid market downturns by selling out of stocks and moving to cash can be damaging to long-term portfolio values. And while there are strong behavioral...
Governance And Policy | Articles

How Can Trustees Achieve Intergenerational Equity in the Face of Rising Costs?

The Commonfund Higher Education Price Index® (HEPI) is an inflation index for colleges and universities. It has been calculated since 1983 and includes inflation data going back to 1961. Commonfund...
Governance And Policy | Videos

Higher Ed in the Age of COVID-19 - A Panel Discussion

With COVID-19 exploding every expectation of normalcy in U.S. higher education, Commonfund convened a panel of experts to identify, analyze and offer potential responses to the critical challenges...
Responsible Investing | Insights Blog

DEI and Crisis Management: Staying the Course in Uncertain Times

The times we are living in are unprecedented. On March 11th, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared that the spread of COVID-19 constituted a global pandemic. Currently, in the U.S., the virus...
Governance And Policy | Insights Blog

10 Tips for Stewarding People Remotely

Six key words – Purpose, Policy, Process, Portfolio, People, and Perspective – form a framework for effective endowment stewardship. As trustees, investment committee members, and senior management...
Investment Strategy | Insights Blog

Coronavirus: Five Key Questions for Nonprofit Institutions

There is no question that we are in unprecedented times and will likely remain so for longer than we anticipated even a few weeks ago. The speed at which a new reality has been imposed on all of us...
Market Commentary | Insights Blog

Chart of the Month | A Price War Erupts in the Oil Market

Oil prices declined over 21 percent on March 9, 2020, the largest single-day decline since January 1991 during the Gulf War[1]. There was optimism prior to the OPEC (Organization of Petroleum...