Insights

A Framework for Benchmarking Private Investments

Private investments often play an important role in an investor’s portfolio, yet the inconsistent methodologies typically used to evaluate private investment performance and public market performance result in a lack of understanding about true relative performance. This report provides our views on best practices for measuring private investment performance and introduces a framework for benchmarking private investments.

March 2014

Concentrated Stock Portfolios

Families can use several strategies to mitigate the risks of single-stock exposures, thereby supporting both wealth-preservation and philanthropic goals.

September 2013

Why Did I Diversify?

While simple 100% U.S. equity and stock/bond portfolios have outperformed recently, highly diversified portfolios have superior returns over decades.

August 2013

Growth Equity is All Grown Up

Growth equity has matured and evolved into a distinct asset class with different characteristics from both venture capital and private equity, and may represent an attractive alternative for certain investors. For those old enough to remember the commercials, U.S. growth equity could perhaps be called the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup of the private investment world. […]

June 2013

Pension De-Risking in a Low-Rate Environment—A Better Solution

Defined benefit pension plans face ample challenges in the current environment of extremely low interest rates. Most agree that low yields have caused liability-hedging assets (longer-duration fixed income) to become overvalued when evaluated in isolation.

April 2013

Pension Risk Management

Asset management and investment banking firms across the globe continue to develop a variety of liability driven investing (LDI)–focused products and solutions for the pension plan community; however, there remains broad confusion over the meaning of LDI.

February 2011