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Mission-aligned Investing | Insights Blog
Climate Resilience Investing: Takeaways from Nest Climate Campus 2026
Climate resilience investing has moved from the margins to the center of the conversation. Climate Week discussions used to focus almost entirely on decarbonization pledges and green finance targets,...
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Governance And Policy | Insights Blog
Governing Through Complexity: Takeaways from the FAOG Annual Conference
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Governance And Policy | Insights Blog
Investment Committee Governance: How to Steer, Not Manage
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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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Market Commentary | Articles
Beyond the Primary Commitment: Considering Private Market Secondaries
As private markets mature and liquidity needs evolve, secondaries have moved from an opportunistic trade to a standing allocation and an important portfolio construction tool for many institutional... Learn Morecommunity_college
Diversity | Articles
Dynamic Workforce = Dynamic Portfolios
The Surprising Outcomes When Diverse Groups and Homogeneous Groups Tackle the Same Problem In late 2018, Commonfund established a Diversity Office with the objective of benefiting from the strengths...
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Investment Strategy | Videos
Playing to Win
In this Forum 2019 general session, Commonfund experts share research into much of the conventional wisdom around institutional portfolio management, with some surprising results into which...
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Perspectives | Articles
Viewpoint: Looking Back, Moving Forward - A Decade of Insight from CSIS
Fiscal 2009 was an epochal year. In March, the stock market decline wrought by the financial crisis and Great Recession reached its nadir as investors sensed the worst had passed. With the turn in...
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Private Equity | Private Equity Insights
5 Steps to Success in Private Equity Investing
Investors participate in private equity markets for two main reasons: to pursue increased investment return and to add portfolio diversification. Even well-informed investors who are experienced in...
Private Equity | Private Equity Insights
Succeed In Private Equity Investing
Interested in exploring private Equity investing? Even well-informed investors can be uncertain about private market investing. In addition to possessing good public market knowledge and expertise,...
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Private Equity | Private Equity Insights
Commonfund Capital Closes 12th Venture Capital Fund at $432M
Commonfund Capital Closes 12th Venture Capital Fund at $432M Wilton, CT, October 5, 2018 – Commonfund Capital today announced the closing of its 12th venture capital fund, Commonfund Capital Venture...
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Governance And Policy | Articles
Viewpoint: The Long of It
Endowments, like the organizations they support, are generally intended to operate in perpetuity. To accomplish this goal, those responsible for endowments—trustees or directors—make decisions based...
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Governance And Policy | Articles
Viewpoint: The Gift of (Relative) Calm
The calamities known as the financial crisis and Great Recession are now a decade in the past. But far from fading into history, the memories remain fresh. And we are reminded of those days regularly...
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Perspectives | Spotlight
Rust College
Rust College: Where tomorrow’s leaders are students today In the wake of the Civil War, Rust College was founded in 1866 to provide an education for newly-freed slaves. Located in Holly Springs,...
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Mission-aligned Investing | Articles
Diversity and Emerging Managers
The benefits of diversity are widely recognized in the work place and among educational institutions and other nonprofits. Yet, the concept of investment management firms that are minority owned and...
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Investment Strategy | Articles
Inflation is Expected to Rise. How Can Investors Protect Portfolios?
In March, capital markets entered their tenth year of post-crisis recovery. For diversified portfolios, these have been some of the most profitable times, characterized by strong returns, positive...
The Global Economy and the Return of Risk