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A Closer Look at Long-term Returns
In the annual Council on Foundations-Commonfund Study of Investment of Endowments for Private and Community Foundations® (CCSF; the "Study") data was collected on longer-term returns for the first...
Higher Education Price Index Forecast August 2025
According to Commonfund Institute's latest update, the HEPI forecasts a 3.7 percent inflation rate for U.S. colleges and universities in fiscal year 2025. The latest forecast, based on data through... Learn More
What Strategic Decisions are Investment Committees Focused On?
Independent schools have been faced with fundamental shifts in their business model and have adapted to stay true to their educational missions. This year has been particularly difficult for many...
Allocating to Illiquid Investments
Stewards of endowments have long been advised that allocating to illiquid investments is critical to achieving long-term returns. Rather than trust conventional wisdom, Commonfund conducted research...
Viewpoint | The Ever-Evolving 80/20
On average over the past decade, independent schools participating in the Commonfund Benchmarks Study® of Independent Schools have maintained an asset allocation that stays within a few percentage...
Stellex Capital Management
In celebration of Black History Month, Commonfund Institute Executive Director, George Suttles, and Commonfund Director, Nicole Melwood, interview Ray Whiteman, Managing Partner and co-Founder of...
Exploring Foundations’ Response to COVID-19
Earlier in February at the 2021 Yale Philanthropy Conference, our own George Suttles, Executive Director of Commonfund Institute hosted a panel which included Tim Yates, President and CEO of...
The Tech Effect and Direct Venture Growth Investing
The venture growth and late stage venture capital (“VC”) market has matured over the last 10 years, and direct investing has emerged as an attractive strategy for Limited Partners (“LPs”) to...
Commonfund’s Second Invitational Diverse Manager Day
Earlier this month, Commonfund held its second invitational Diverse Manager Day with 19 managers identified through our Diverse Manager Portal. These diverse managers1 , from historically...
Chart of the Month | Are Bonds Still a Good Hedge for Equity Market Declines?
In the middle of January, the Biden administration announced the details on a new $1.9 trillion stimulus package, including enhanced unemployment benefits, an increase in the minimum wage, and...
2021 Private Markets Investor Sentiment Survey
Institutional investors continue to increase allocations to private strategies. Commonfund Capital’s fourth annual private markets investor sentiment survey shows trends continue despite the pandemic...
Chart of the Month | Beware of High Yield Bonds
Income-hungry investors continued to push yields on speculative grade bonds to new lows despite the challenging business conditions this year. The yield on the Bloomberg Barclays Corporate High Yield...
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...
Chart of the Month | The Stock Market Rally May Finally Be Broadening Beyond Tech Names