In Defense of the Endowment Model, Rightly Understood

September 27, 2024


We are excited to introduce The Long View
: a new series from GEM’s Deputy CIO, Matt Bank, exploring a range of topics relevant to the fiduciaries and allocators of institutional capital.


 

The “Endowment Model,” we’re told, is under pressure. For our country’s endowed civic institutions, it’s allegedly too complex, illiquid, and costly. However, in our experience, reports of the “death” of the Endowment Model have always been greatly exaggerated. When properly understood, assessed, and executed, endowment-style investing looks a lot like any other form of active management, with the same attendant virtues and tradeoffs.

In the first of his three-part series on the Endowment Model, Bank dissects:

  1. What the Endowment Model is,
  2. What the Endowment Model is not, and
  3. How endowment-style investing is best implemented for long-term, multi-asset portfolios

 

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Recent Insights

In Defense of the Endowment Model, Rightly Understood

The first of Deputy CIO Matt Bank’s new series, The Long View, reaffirms GEM’s belief that the Endowment Model – in the right hands, for the right institutions – remains a compelling means of achieving risk-adjusted returns.

GEM Expands Impact Investing Team with Two New Hires

GEM announced the addition of two new investment professionals to its impact investment team: Angelica Nikolausson joined as Managing Director, and Ann Eubank as Senior Associate.

The Returns Horse Race Has Begun — But Does Measuring Up Matter?

As Matt Bank discussed with Institutional Investor, institutions should avoid the comparison game as endowment return season gets underway and focus instead on simply running their own race.

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