When endowment funds slip “underwater” (below the historic dollar value of the original gift), institutions face a tradeoff between distributing anticipated budget support and restoring the endowment to its original value. Ultimately, the choice of underwater policy depends on the situation and needs of each institution in balancing endowment preservation with program support.
August 2016
Considering climate factors is an economic risk management and opportunity capitalization issue core to prudent investing for the long term. In this paper, we discuss the potential risks that climate change can inflict upon certain sectors and asset classes, outline corresponding strategies to defend against those risks, and review the thematic areas across public and private asset classes to proactively capitalize on the evolving opportunity set within the "resource efficiency" sector.
December 2015
Diversified growth funds (DGFs) have garnered significant attention and assets—particularly amongst UK defined benefit pension schemes—as a less volatile source of long-term growth. DGFs can be valuable tools for pension portfolio management, but only if trustees understand what they are buying and how it fits into the context of the total portfolio. The simple bifurcation of the available products into traditional and absolute return strategies can be a starting point for trustees to help make sense of the market and set appropriate risk/return expectations across different market environments.
October 2015
A common perception among investors that employ active equity management is that the “donut” structure is more aggressive, more expensive, and riskier than the “core-satellite” structure because of the donut structure’s heavier reliance on concentrated, high tracking error, high fee managers. The research we present in this report, which examines a 17-year period, calls into question these perceptions. Our analysis suggests that, at a minimum, investors should reassess whether a core-satellite structure is as likely to help them earn their payout as a donut structure.
September 2015
Plans with active participants need a holistic, flexible risk budgeting approach—not a simple glide path.
July 2015
Late-stage investing is challenging. As central banks around the globe have generally been in easing mode, valuations for bonds and risk assets have appreciated, leaving very little value and some pockets of froth. Ultra-low yields have pushed investors into increasingly risky assets—from high yield bonds to venture capital—in search of attractive returns. In this webinar, […]
July 2015
The Highway and Transportation Funding Act of 2014, which temporarily maintains the solvency of the Highway Trust Fund, can benefit most pension plan sponsors by giving them flexibility around the timing and amount of contributions for the next several years, but may not decrease the total amount of contributions required over the long term.
August 2014