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Perspectives | Press Releases
2025 HEPI Report Released
Inflation for U.S. Higher Education Institutions Rises 3.6% in Fiscal 2025, Up from Fiscal 2024 Rate Norwalk, Conn., December 11, 2025 – Data from the annual Higher Education Price Index® (HEPI) show...
Featured
Private Equity | Private Equity Insights
From Leaks to Floods – Challenges and Opportunities in Water Infrastructure
Featured
Perspectives | Insights Blog
Winter Reading List 2025: Stories to Warm the Season
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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
FY24 NACUBO-Commonfund Study Released
U.S. Higher Education Endowments Report 6.8% 10-Year Average Annual Return, Increase Spending to a Collective $30.0 Billion Annual NACUBO-Commonfund Study shows participating institutions spent...
Investment Strategy | Videos
Chief Investment Officers Share Their Thoughts at Forum 2025
Commonfund hosted its annual Commonfund Forum 2025, March 9-11th, in Orlando, Florida. The agenda included a range of sessions on relevant topics for institutional investors. This Forum Spotlight...
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Featured
Investment Strategy | Insights Blog
Why the Way You Count Matters and Why Comparing One-Year Returns Does Not
As we near the end of the performance reporting season for larger higher ed institutions this year, I am once again struck by the focus the media and others place on a single fiscal year return. Learn Morecommunity_foundation
Diversity | Insights Blog
Viewpoint | Diverse Managers
The inclusion of diverse managers in institutional portfolios offers access to a broader array of investment talent. Data indicate that foundations are beginning to recognize and act on this...
community_foundation
Perspectives | Spotlight
The Women’s Foundation of Minnesota: A Pioneer for 38 Years and Counting
If a pioneer is the first to open new ways of thought and action, the Women’s Foundation of Minnesota (WFMN) fits the definition perfectly. Founded in 1983, WFMN became the first statewide women’s...
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Private Equity | Private Equity Insights
Commonfund Capital Closes its Third Co-Investment Fund at $160 Million
Commonfund Capital Co-Investment Opportunities III, LP includes Capital Commitments from Foundations, Endowments, and Family Offices
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Investment Strategy | Insights Blog
OCIO Operational Services: Four Questions to Consider
When properly implemented, outsourcing the investment of nonprofit assets can help institutions establish governance processes, manage a complex portfolio, and navigate operational complexity and...
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Perspectives | Insights Blog
Commonfund Celebrates 50 Years of Service
On July 1st, 1971, The Common Fund for Nonprofit Organizations commenced operations with a $2.8 million grant from the Ford Foundation under the leadership of President George Keane and the Board of...
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Market Commentary | Insights Blog
Chart of the Month | Supply Chain Woes as the Pandemic Recedes in the U.S.
Supply chain woes continue to wreak havoc for retailers who are grappling with a strong rebound in consumer spending. Average six-month spending on durable goods, spurred by over $5 trillion in...
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Governance And Policy | Insights Blog
Endowment Management and the Three Primary Responsibilities of a Board
The fourth blog in the “Six Ps of Investment Stewardship” series addresses People, specifically how boards function within an organization. To learn more about the first four principles in the series...
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Mission-aligned Investing | Insights Blog
ESG and Sustainable Investing
ESG and environmentally sustainable investment are increasingly capturing the attention of the institutional investment community. To assess the state of ESG and sustainable investing and how they...
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Market Commentary | Insights Blog
Chart of the Month | Emerging Markets Trail the Pack Despite Rising Demand and Commodities Prices
As growth continues to rebound around the world and investors return to their pre-pandemic way of life, global market performance is beginning to reflect the divergent speed of normalization within...
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Diversity | Insights Blog
How to Invest in Diverse Managers
A U.S. capitalist system where approximately one percent of all capital is managed by women and people of color, who make up 70 percent of the population, perpetuates and increases inequality and...
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Market Commentary | Insights Blog
Digging Deeper into Inflation Fears
The current debate about whether the spike we are seeing in inflation is “transitory” should be reframed as “reflation vs sustained inflation.” Just like many other economic data points (ISM,...
Chart of the Month | Home Prices Are Up 32 Percent In Five Years – And Still Climbing