Governments & Insurance
We build customized portfolios focused on maximizing results for each valuable unit of risk and capital.
We bring deep experience to serving the unique investment needs of complex asset and liability-sensitive pools including insurance firms, government entities, and other complex trusts and investment portfolios. In doing so, we focus on maximizing results for each valuable unit of risk and capital. We think holistically, balancing the interaction of risk-hedging reserves and growth-oriented, surplus portfolios to optimal effect, and leveraging our firm’s full resources to the client’s best advantage.
Each client team is led by a senior investor and backed by expert investment professionals. Together, this team partners with each client to help refine strategic priorities and understand their trade-offs. This process helps us to ensure that every investment decision is informed by the portfolio’s unique requirements, and reflects what we believe will most effectively achieve its goals.
To deliver the best ideas, we have built a global firm with experienced investors focused on sourcing and evaluating opportunities worldwide — including a full range of alternative assets, such as private equity, private debt, hedge funds, and real assets. This breadth of experience and resources allows us to construct truly differentiated portfolios designed to help our clients reach their targets while reducing downside risk.
We also leverage our market presence and scale to negotiate favorable terms and fees with managers. To align ourselves with our clients’ interests, we do not offer proprietary, off-the-shelf investment products or accept payments to recommend managers’ products. We don’t have other business agendas that compete with our clients for our best ideas or for our focus on their best interests.
Services We Offer
Portfolio Management
In building and managing a total portfolio, we work on either a fully discretionary or non-discretionary basis. Under our discretionary (OCIO) model, we are responsible for portfolio strategy, implementation, day-to-day management, and operations. Under a non-discretionary arrangement, we are responsible for day-to-day oversight of the portfolio, providing directive recommendations on asset allocation, portfolio structure, and manager selection — all subject to approval by the client.
Asset Class Mandates
With investment expertise across asset classes, and specialized resources in alternative assets, we manage a portion of a portfolio, such as private equity, private credit, co-investments, hedge funds, real assets, or other asset classes. As with our total portfolio management services, portfolio management of asset class mandates is available on either a discretionary or a non-discretionary basis.
Staff Extension
We partner closely with organizations that have significant investment staff to complement and augment their in-house resources. In this capacity, we provide our expertise and manager relationships across asset classes, or in specific asset classes, and act as a sounding board for investment ideas.
We serve a diverse group of institutional portfolios with complex asset and liability pools
- Insurance firms
- Governments and sovereign wealth funds
- Pension plans
- Settlement, NDT, and other specialized trusts
Latest Research
VantagePoint: Third Quarter 2018
Climbing the wall of worries is getting tougher. There is room for markets to progress, but caution is required at this stage in the cycle. Markets must overcome four main forces: monetary policy tightening, US dollar strength, a China growth slowdown, and trade friction.
Read More »
Trade Finance: An Expanding Opportunity for Institutional Investors
While trade finance is among the oldest forms of institutionalized credit, it has only recently become an accessible market for most institutional investors. Providing high…
Read More »
Are Inflationary Pressures in the United States Building?
Yes. Inflationary pressures in the United States appear to be building, as positively trending wages, expansionary fiscal policies, and protectionist trade barriers feed into a humming economy.
Read More »
Do Recent Events Change the Outlook for Insurance-Linked Security Strategies?
The strong Atlantic hurricane season and Mexican earthquakes have resulted in a tragic loss of life and property. Insurance-linked securities (ILS), meanwhile, have suffered a less dramatic impact.
Read More »
Private Credit Strategies: An Introduction
Private credit offers distinct advantages and appeal in a low return environment, but investors should be aware that behind the name is a diverse array of strategies, some more familiar to institutional investors than others, each with idiosyncratic risks. In this report, we describe the broad array of private credit strategies and position them along the risk/return spectrum, review the investment process, discuss expectations for the performance of these strategies in various parts of the economic cycle, and highlight some key risks for investors to consider.
Read More »
VantagePoint: Third Quarter 2018
Climbing the wall of worries is getting tougher. There is room for markets to progress, but caution is required at this stage in the cycle. Markets must overcome four main forces: monetary policy tightening, US dollar strength, a China growth slowdown, and trade friction.
Read More »
Trade Finance: An Expanding Opportunity for Institutional Investors
While trade finance is among the oldest forms of institutionalized credit, it has only recently become an accessible market for most institutional investors. Providing high…
Read More »
Are Inflationary Pressures in the United States Building?
Yes. Inflationary pressures in the United States appear to be building, as positively trending wages, expansionary fiscal policies, and protectionist trade barriers feed into a humming economy.
Read More »
Do Recent Events Change the Outlook for Insurance-Linked Security Strategies?
The strong Atlantic hurricane season and Mexican earthquakes have resulted in a tragic loss of life and property. Insurance-linked securities (ILS), meanwhile, have suffered a less dramatic impact.
Read More »
Private Credit Strategies: An Introduction
Private credit offers distinct advantages and appeal in a low return environment, but investors should be aware that behind the name is a diverse array of strategies, some more familiar to institutional investors than others, each with idiosyncratic risks. In this report, we describe the broad array of private credit strategies and position them along the risk/return spectrum, review the investment process, discuss expectations for the performance of these strategies in various parts of the economic cycle, and highlight some key risks for investors to consider.
Read More »
Contact Us
We build customised portfolios focused on managing risks and maximising results.
At Cambridge Associates, our investment teams are investors specialised in helping our clients frame objectives, risk constraints, and regulatory frameworks, and develop investment strategies tailored to each of their circumstances.
We are expert at incorporating a diverse range of investment strategies — alternative, traditional, and active as appropriate — into our clients’ portfolios. In the area of private investing, for instance, our clients benefit from Cambridge Associates’ deep experience and relationships across a full range of opportunities, including private equity, private debt, and real assets. This breadth of experience and resources allows us to construct truly differentiated portfolios designed to help our clients reach their targets while reducing downside risk.
Our global footprint helps us to uncover areas of significant investment potential whilst our scale allows us to negotiate competitive terms for the benefit of our clients. We have built a network of established and promising new managers across all asset classes for one simple objective: to get access to the best investment managers for each client’s unique portfolio.
We strive to align ourselves with clients. We don’t generate fees from investment products or have financial relationships with managers for recommending their products.
Services We Offer
Portfolio Management
In building and managing a total portfolio, we work in either a fully discretionary or non-discretionary basis. Under our discretionary (OCIO) model, we are responsible for portfolio strategy, implementation, day-to-day management, and operations. Under a non-discretionary arrangement, we are responsible for day-to-day oversight of the portfolio, providing directive recommendations on asset allocation, portfolio structure, and manager selection — all subject to approval by the client.
Asset Class Mandates
With investment expertise across asset classes and specialised resources in alternative assets, we can manage a portion of a portfolio, such as private equity, private credit, co-investments, hedge funds, real assets, or other asset classes. As with our total portfolio management services, portfolio management of asset class mandates is available on either a discretionary or non-discretionary basis.
Staff Extension
We partner closely with organisations that have significant investment staff to complement and augment their in-house resources. In this capacity, we provide our expertise and manager relationships across asset classes, or in specific asset classes, and act as a sounding board for investment ideas.
Latest Research
Outlook 2019: More Risk for Less Return?
Although we are more cautious heading into 2019 than we were 12 months ago, we still think a roughly neutral allocation to risk assets is the right approach.
Read More »
Should Investors Consider Co-Investing?
Yes. At a minimum, investors should consciously consider it. The co-investment “craze” isn’t going away anytime soon—we estimate co-investing currently accounts for nearly one-third of all private investment activity—and there are structural reasons why it will continue, as we will discuss.
Read More »
Protecting Pension Plans’ Hard-Won Gains: Could Hedge Funds Play a Role?
In the November 2018 issue of Benefits Magazine, covering pension plan issues affecting multiemployer, single employer and public plan representatives, Investment Managing Director in Cambridge…
Read More »
VantagePoint: Fourth Quarter 2018
Because the US economy has entered the late stage of the economic cycle, investors should consider the prospect of a bear market recession, even though one does not seem imminent. We have been evaluating the appeal of different asset classes through a late-cycle lens. In this edition of VantagePoint, we evaluate several potentially defensive equity strategies to see whether they are attractive today.
Read More »
Alternative Risk Premia Funds: An Attractive Diversifier? (Sterling Edition)
Elevated equity market valuations and potentially rising bond yields suggest the return environment for traditional risk assets could be difficult. Faced with this challenge, institutional…
Read More »
Rising from the Ashes: Key Developments Since the Global Financial Crisis
In this report, we briefly highlight five key post-GFC developments and discuss how investors might adapt their portfolios to these changes.
Read More »
Amid Rising Risks, Should Investors Maintain Credit Allocations?
Yes, but investors should be selective in allocating to credit markets at this point in the cycle, and understand that the overvaluation of many credit assets could make attractive returns hard to come by.
Read More »
Gender Lens Investing: Impact Opportunities Through Gender Equity
With a gender lens framework, investors can positively impact gender imbalances via their portfolio management choices; this paper provides tangible investment themes and implementable strategies.
Read More »
In Light of Ongoing “Brexit” Uncertainty, Should Investors Reduce Exposure to UK Equities?
No, investors should consider staying the course. Though developments and headlines associated with the United Kingdom’s Article 50 negotiations with the European Union have been and likely will remain fitful, they reflect more the political nature of the process and less the underlying fundamentals of the economy and its listed equities.
Read More »
Outlook 2019: More Risk for Less Return?
Although we are more cautious heading into 2019 than we were 12 months ago, we still think a roughly neutral allocation to risk assets is the right approach.
Read More »
Should Investors Consider Co-Investing?
Yes. At a minimum, investors should consciously consider it. The co-investment “craze” isn’t going away anytime soon—we estimate co-investing currently accounts for nearly one-third of all private investment activity—and there are structural reasons why it will continue, as we will discuss.
Read More »
Protecting Pension Plans’ Hard-Won Gains: Could Hedge Funds Play a Role?
In the November 2018 issue of Benefits Magazine, covering pension plan issues affecting multiemployer, single employer and public plan representatives, Investment Managing Director in Cambridge…
Read More »
VantagePoint: Fourth Quarter 2018
Because the US economy has entered the late stage of the economic cycle, investors should consider the prospect of a bear market recession, even though one does not seem imminent. We have been evaluating the appeal of different asset classes through a late-cycle lens. In this edition of VantagePoint, we evaluate several potentially defensive equity strategies to see whether they are attractive today.
Read More »
Alternative Risk Premia Funds: An Attractive Diversifier? (Sterling Edition)
Elevated equity market valuations and potentially rising bond yields suggest the return environment for traditional risk assets could be difficult. Faced with this challenge, institutional…
Read More »
Rising from the Ashes: Key Developments Since the Global Financial Crisis
In this report, we briefly highlight five key post-GFC developments and discuss how investors might adapt their portfolios to these changes.
Read More »
Amid Rising Risks, Should Investors Maintain Credit Allocations?
Yes, but investors should be selective in allocating to credit markets at this point in the cycle, and understand that the overvaluation of many credit assets could make attractive returns hard to come by.
Read More »
Gender Lens Investing: Impact Opportunities Through Gender Equity
With a gender lens framework, investors can positively impact gender imbalances via their portfolio management choices; this paper provides tangible investment themes and implementable strategies.
Read More »
In Light of Ongoing “Brexit” Uncertainty, Should Investors Reduce Exposure to UK Equities?
No, investors should consider staying the course. Though developments and headlines associated with the United Kingdom’s Article 50 negotiations with the European Union have been and likely will remain fitful, they reflect more the political nature of the process and less the underlying fundamentals of the economy and its listed equities.
Read More »
Contact Us
We build customized portfolios focused on maximizing results for each valuable unit of risk and capital.
We bring deep experience to serving the unique investment needs of complex asset and liability-sensitive pools including insurance firms, government entities, and other complex trusts and investment portfolios. In doing so, we focus on maximizing results for each valuable unit of risk and capital. We think holistically, balancing the interaction of risk-hedging reserves and growth-oriented, surplus portfolios to optimal effect, and leveraging our firm’s full resources to the client’s best advantage.
Each client team is led by a senior investor and backed by expert investment professionals. Together, this team partners with each client to help refine strategic priorities and understand their trade-offs. This process helps us to ensure that every investment decision is informed by the portfolio’s unique requirements, and reflects what we believe will most effectively achieve its goals.
To deliver the best ideas, we have built a global firm with experienced investors focused on sourcing and evaluating opportunities worldwide — including a full range of alternative assets, such as private equity, private debt, hedge funds, and real assets. This breadth of experience and resources allows us to construct truly differentiated portfolios designed to help our clients reach their targets while reducing downside risk.
We also leverage our market presence and scale to negotiate favorable terms and fees with managers. To align ourselves with our clients’ interests, we do not offer proprietary, off-the-shelf investment products or accept payments to recommend managers’ products. We don’t have other business agendas that compete with our clients for our best ideas or for our focus on their best interests.
Services We Offer
Portfolio Management
In building and managing a total portfolio, we work on either a fully discretionary or non-discretionary basis. Under our discretionary (OCIO) model, we are responsible for portfolio strategy, implementation, day-to-day management, and operations. Under a non-discretionary arrangement, we are responsible for day-to-day oversight of the portfolio, providing directive recommendations on asset allocation, portfolio structure, and manager selection — all subject to approval by the client.
Asset Class Mandates
With investment expertise across asset classes, and specialized resources in alternative assets, we manage a portion of a portfolio, such as private equity, private credit, co-investments, hedge funds, real assets, or other asset classes. As with our total portfolio management services, portfolio management of asset class mandates is available on either a discretionary or a non-discretionary basis.
Staff Extension
We partner closely with organizations that have significant investment staff to complement and augment their in-house resources. In this capacity, we provide our expertise and manager relationships across asset classes, or in specific asset classes, and act as a sounding board for investment ideas.
We serve a diverse group of institutional portfolios with complex asset and liability pools
- Insurance firms
- Governments and sovereign wealth funds
- Pension plans
- Settlement, NDT, and other specialized trusts
Latest Research
VantagePoint: Second Quarter 2019
We recently argued that investors should take a systematic and comprehensive approach to investing in China, overweighting Chinese assets relative to their index weights. This edition of VantagePoint addresses five key questions regarding implementation decisions.
Read More »
VantagePoint: First Quarter 2019
In this edition of VantagePoint, we compare and contrast the late 1990s and today; our intent is to help investors navigate this recent downturn and the next recession-related bear market (which may already be in progress), and to position their portfolios for long-term success.
Read More »
Outlook 2019: More Risk for Less Return?
Although we are more cautious heading into 2019 than we were 12 months ago, we still think a roughly neutral allocation to risk assets is the right approach.
Read More »
VantagePoint: Fourth Quarter 2018
Because the US economy has entered the late stage of the economic cycle, investors should consider the prospect of a bear market recession, even though one does not seem imminent. We have been evaluating the appeal of different asset classes through a late-cycle lens. In this edition of VantagePoint, we evaluate several potentially defensive equity strategies to see whether they are attractive today.
Read More »
Rising from the Ashes: Key Developments Since the Global Financial Crisis
In this report, we briefly highlight five key post-GFC developments and discuss how investors might adapt their portfolios to these changes.
Read More »
VantagePoint: Third Quarter 2018
Climbing the wall of worries is getting tougher. There is room for markets to progress, but caution is required at this stage in the cycle. Markets must overcome four main forces: monetary policy tightening, US dollar strength, a China growth slowdown, and trade friction.
Read More »
Trade Finance: An Expanding Opportunity for Institutional Investors
While trade finance is among the oldest forms of institutionalized credit, it has only recently become an accessible market for most institutional investors. Providing high…
Read More »
VantagePoint: Second Quarter 2019
We recently argued that investors should take a systematic and comprehensive approach to investing in China, overweighting Chinese assets relative to their index weights. This edition of VantagePoint addresses five key questions regarding implementation decisions.
Read More »
VantagePoint: First Quarter 2019
In this edition of VantagePoint, we compare and contrast the late 1990s and today; our intent is to help investors navigate this recent downturn and the next recession-related bear market (which may already be in progress), and to position their portfolios for long-term success.
Read More »
Outlook 2019: More Risk for Less Return?
Although we are more cautious heading into 2019 than we were 12 months ago, we still think a roughly neutral allocation to risk assets is the right approach.
Read More »
VantagePoint: Fourth Quarter 2018
Because the US economy has entered the late stage of the economic cycle, investors should consider the prospect of a bear market recession, even though one does not seem imminent. We have been evaluating the appeal of different asset classes through a late-cycle lens. In this edition of VantagePoint, we evaluate several potentially defensive equity strategies to see whether they are attractive today.
Read More »
Rising from the Ashes: Key Developments Since the Global Financial Crisis
In this report, we briefly highlight five key post-GFC developments and discuss how investors might adapt their portfolios to these changes.
Read More »
VantagePoint: Third Quarter 2018
Climbing the wall of worries is getting tougher. There is room for markets to progress, but caution is required at this stage in the cycle. Markets must overcome four main forces: monetary policy tightening, US dollar strength, a China growth slowdown, and trade friction.
Read More »
Trade Finance: An Expanding Opportunity for Institutional Investors
While trade finance is among the oldest forms of institutionalized credit, it has only recently become an accessible market for most institutional investors. Providing high…
Read More »
Contact Us
We build customised portfolios focused on maximising results for each valuable unit of risk and capital.
We bring deep experience to serving the unique investment needs of complex asset and liability-sensitive pools including insurance firms, government entities, and other complex trusts and investment portfolios. In doing so, we focus on maximising results for each valuable unit of risk and capital. We think holistically, balancing the interaction of risk-hedging reserves and growth-oriented, surplus portfolios to optimal effect, and leveraging our firm’s full resources to the client’s best advantage.
Each client team is led by a senior investor and backed by expert investment professionals. Together, this team partners with each client to help refine strategic priorities and understand their trade-offs. This process helps us to ensure that every investment decision is informed by the portfolio’s unique requirements, and reflects what we believe will most effectively achieve its goals.
To deliver the best ideas, we have built a global firm with experienced investors focused on sourcing and evaluating opportunities worldwide — not just across traditional asset classes but also including a full range of alternative assets, such as private equity, private debt, hedge funds, and real assets. This breadth of experience and resources allows us to construct truly differentiated portfolios designed to help our clients reach their targets while reducing downside risk.
We also leverage our market presence and scale to negotiate favourable terms and fees with managers. To align ourselves with our clients’ interests, we do not offer proprietary, off-the-shelf investment products or accept payments to recommend managers’ products. We don’t have other business agendas that compete with our clients for our best ideas or for our focus on their best interests.
Services We Offer
Portfolio Management
In building and managing a total portfolio, we work on either a fully discretionary or non-discretionary basis. Under our discretionary (OCIO) model, we are responsible for portfolio strategy, implementation, day-to-day management, and operations. Under a non-discretionary arrangement, we are responsible for day-to-day oversight of the portfolio, providing directive recommendations on asset allocation, portfolio structure, and manager selection — all subject to approval by the client.
Asset Class Mandates
With investment expertise across asset classes, and specialised resources in alternative assets, we manage a portion of a portfolio, such as private equity, private credit, co-investments, hedge funds, real assets, or other asset classes. As with our total portfolio management services, portfolio management of asset class mandates is available on either a discretionary or a non-discretionary basis.
Staff Extension
We partner closely with organisations that have significant investment staff to complement and augment their in-house resources. In this capacity, we provide our expertise and manager relationships across asset classes, or in specific asset classes, and act as a sounding board for investment ideas.
We serve a diverse group of institutional portfolios with complex asset and liability pools
- Insurance firms
- Governments and sovereign wealth funds
- Pension plans
- Settlement, NDT, and other specialised trusts
Latest Research
VantagePoint: Third Quarter 2018
Climbing the wall of worries is getting tougher. There is room for markets to progress, but caution is required at this stage in the cycle. Markets must overcome four main forces: monetary policy tightening, US dollar strength, a China growth slowdown, and trade friction.
Read More »
Trade Finance: An Expanding Opportunity for Institutional Investors
While trade finance is among the oldest forms of institutionalized credit, it has only recently become an accessible market for most institutional investors. Providing high…
Read More »
Do Recent Events Change the Outlook for Insurance-Linked Security Strategies?
The strong Atlantic hurricane season and Mexican earthquakes have resulted in a tragic loss of life and property. Insurance-linked securities (ILS), meanwhile, have suffered a less dramatic impact.
Read More »
Private Energy: Deserving a Place
The potential for strong performance and use as a diversifier give private energy investments merit as part of portfolios.
Read More »
Private Credit Strategies: An Introduction
Private credit offers distinct advantages and appeal in a low return environment, but investors should be aware that behind the name is a diverse array of strategies, some more familiar to institutional investors than others, each with idiosyncratic risks. In this report, we describe the broad array of private credit strategies and position them along the risk/return spectrum, review the investment process, discuss expectations for the performance of these strategies in various parts of the economic cycle, and highlight some key risks for investors to consider.
Read More »
VantagePoint: Third Quarter 2018
Climbing the wall of worries is getting tougher. There is room for markets to progress, but caution is required at this stage in the cycle. Markets must overcome four main forces: monetary policy tightening, US dollar strength, a China growth slowdown, and trade friction.
Read More »
Trade Finance: An Expanding Opportunity for Institutional Investors
While trade finance is among the oldest forms of institutionalized credit, it has only recently become an accessible market for most institutional investors. Providing high…
Read More »
Do Recent Events Change the Outlook for Insurance-Linked Security Strategies?
The strong Atlantic hurricane season and Mexican earthquakes have resulted in a tragic loss of life and property. Insurance-linked securities (ILS), meanwhile, have suffered a less dramatic impact.
Read More »
Private Energy: Deserving a Place
The potential for strong performance and use as a diversifier give private energy investments merit as part of portfolios.
Read More »
Private Credit Strategies: An Introduction
Private credit offers distinct advantages and appeal in a low return environment, but investors should be aware that behind the name is a diverse array of strategies, some more familiar to institutional investors than others, each with idiosyncratic risks. In this report, we describe the broad array of private credit strategies and position them along the risk/return spectrum, review the investment process, discuss expectations for the performance of these strategies in various parts of the economic cycle, and highlight some key risks for investors to consider.
Read More »
