Policy Benchmarking: Best Practices for Private Investments

For investors with private allocations, how one incorporates them into the policy benchmark will materially impact the portfolio’s relative performance, making the choice key to informed decision making. We review the various methodologies used and make a series of recommendations on best practices to follow. In considering the performance of private investments within the total portfolio, we anchor to a set of principles: keep it simple, don’t treat private investments differently, and make performance evaluation as meaningful as possible.

May 2018

Portfolio Benchmarking: Best Practices for Private Investments

When assessing performance at the aggregate private portfolio and sub-component level, investors should take the long view. In this publication, we review how long funds take to settle into their ultimate quartile ranking and highlight our framework for benchmarking a portfolio of private investments.

May 2018

Venture Capital and Impact Investing: Blurring Boundaries Mean New Opportunities

Impact investing – allocations that aim for social and/or environmental change or to solve a problem in the world – has historically stood apart from “traditional,” financial-return driven investing. But increasingly in several asset classes, including venture capital, an exciting convergence of variables is blurring the boundaries, perhaps turning this old distinction on its head. […]

May 2018

Is Private Equity Replacing Public Equity?

It sure looks like it. The increasingly unforgiving nature of public equity markets, coupled with the continued evolution and growth of private investment markets, is making it easier for more companies to stay private, with some CEOs avowing to do so indefinitely.

November 2017

When Secondaries Should Come First

Investors seeking to gain initial exposure to private investments should actively consider secondaries, rather than funds-of-funds, as the very first step to constructing a long-term private equity portfolio.

August 2017

A New Arrow in the Quiver: Investment-Level Benchmarks for Private Investment Performance Measurement

This paper introduces Cambridge Associates’ Investment-Level Benchmarks and shares examples of the types of perspectives they can offer subscribers.

February 2017

Are Private Equity Returns Doomed?

No. You just need to know where to look. Given the low return environment, many investors are exploring private equity investing for the first time, attracted by data points such as the 10.7% ten-year return for the Cambridge Associates LLC US Private Equity Index®. The increased demand and, therefore, expected increased supply of capital for […]

January 2017

The 15 Percent Frontier

With virtually limitless choices along the asset allocation spectrum, an allocation to private investments greater than 15% has served many investors well. Are you on the right track?

July 2016