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Understanding Buyouts and Growth Equity Investments
Buyouts and growth equity are two investment strategies within private equity that offer investors exposure to companies of differing scale. Buyouts often involve more complex restructuring and...
Investment Stewardship Academy: Takeaways for Navigating an Evolving Landscape
For over 30 years, Commonfund Institute has hosted the Investment Stewardship Academy (ISA) to bring institutional investors together to learn, collaborate, and better support the missions they... Learn More
Board of Trustees and Investment Committee Roles and Responsibilities
There are fundamental principles of effective endowment management that we have organized into what we call “the 6 Ps of Investment Stewardship”– Purpose, Policy, Process, Portfolio, People and...
Investment Governance | Are You Asking These Three Questions?
In the midst of a global pandemic, many non-profit business models are being challenged which has put significant pressures on staff, governing boards and committees. These pressures on time and...
Foundation Spending Strategy – Meeting the Moment in 2020 and Beyond
This year has been incredibly difficult. One of the most contentious and turbulent presidential elections and transitions in American History. COVID-19 and the consequential social and economic...
Chart of the Month | Are Value Stocks Finally Going to Make a Run?
The month of November saw a sharp rotation into value equities at the expense of technology and communication services companies, causing investors to wonder whether the long-run dominance of growth...
Implications of Increased Spending for Foundations
In this Commonfund Xchange, Commonfund Institute Executive Director, George Suttles, moderated a discussion with two leading practitioners: Mary Reynolds Babcock Foundation Chief Finance and...
A Financial Framework for the COVID Crisis
Despite the fall semester looking much better than the worst-case scenarios contemplated in early summer, higher education in America continues to grapple with the enormous challenges that the...
Chart of the Month | Recession Impacts on Employment and Wages
It may come as a surprise to many that average disposable personal incomes have increased by 6.6 percent from February prior to the pandemic through August. This is down from a high of 9.8 percent in...
The Key Endowment Questions for Challenging Times
During this time of unprecedented challenges, the financial health of colleges and universities is a critical concern. Boards, investment committees, institutional leaders, and their advisors must...
How to Measure Private Equity Investments
Private capital investors use a particular set of quantitative and qualitative measures to assess performance. While the standard benchmarks used for marketable securities are sometimes applied to...
Top Ten Tips for Better OCIO RFPs
A tightly run RFP process can help ensure your organization will find an ideal investment partner to help you fulfill your organization’s mission. As the second installment of our blog series on the...
Viewpoint | Meeting the Moment
Some foundations have responded to the call of mission by increasing spending in response to exceptional needs created by COVID-19. But there is a trade-off: the potential erosion of endowment value...
Chart of the Month | Beware of High Yield Bonds