Insights

Endowment Governance: Aligning Foundation Investments and Mission

Where Do We Start? An institution considering initiating or adding to a mission-aligned investing strategy must first define its objectives. Next, it should evaluate the available approaches and tools on portfolio structure, impact, and performance expectations. Any planned changes must be balanced with the need to continue support for ongoing operations and grantmaking activities. Drawing […]

November 2022

Quantitative Tightening Raises the Risks for Markets

With inflation running at multi-decade highs, monetary policymakers are united in one of the most aggressive tightening campaigns in decades. Most central banks have already significantly increased policy rates this year, and some are unwinding their massive balance sheets, also known as quantitative tightening (QT). From what we know about QT, we expect it to […]

November 2022

US Private Equity Looking Back, Looking Forward: Ten Years of CA Operating Metrics

Ten years ago, we were emerging from the Global Financial Crisis (GFC); the worst recession and market crash experienced in decades. With increased commitment activity and growing exposures to private investments, institutional investors needed new tools to understand the impacts on and implications for their portfolios. In response to this need, Cambridge Associates issued our […]

November 2022

VantagePoint: Three Big Questions

Policymakers are in a tough spot. One doesn’t need to look further than the United Kingdom to see their challenges. High inflation and slowing growth have pitted central banks against politicians seeking to stimulate. As a result, capital markets of all sorts—risky and defensive—have corrected sharply. Much bad news has been discounted, but is it […]

November 2022

Optimizing Wealth Transfer for Families: A Focus on Next Gen Investors

Most families of significant wealth inevitably grapple with intergenerational wealth transitions. Shifting the responsibility for a family’s long-term financial health can be a challenging endeavor that has the potential to strain family dynamics. Families without a clear succession plan put their wealth preservation at significant risk, as a lack of planning can lead to uncertainty […]

October 2022

Will Brazil’s Presidential Election Undercut the Country’s Recent Strong Equity Performance?

No, we don’t think so. While there may be higher-than-typical market volatility around the run-off election on October 30, we expect economic issues will be the primary driver of Brazilian equities in the months that follow. On balance, we see these issues as neither overly positive nor negative and recommend that investors maintain Brazilian allocations […]

October 2022

Has the Attractiveness of Gilts Improved for UK Investors?

Yes. We believe the attractiveness of UK government bonds has improved relative to just a month ago. The concern for many is that the disorderly market volatility that required the Bank of England (BOE) to intervene last week indicates that the risk of these investments may be higher than usual. While we share this concern, […]

October 2022

Investment Governance: Creating a Framework That Works for a Family

Investment governance plays a critical role in the ability of families with substantial wealth to define their financial objectives and formulate a strategy for a diversified portfolio. Investment strategy—including asset allocation, selection and monitoring of investments, and risk management—demands a large amount of attention from families and their advisors. While investment governance is at least […]

September 2022