Last summer our research indicated that foundation assets crossed the $1 trillion threshold for the first time at some point in 2017, about 18 months prior to our discovery. Curious to learn more about this watershed moment, we looked for news stories but found none. After triple checking all our data, we mentioned this to the leading philanthropic publication, the Chronicle … [Read more...] about Measuring Foundation Asset Levels
Foundations Disburse 8% of Average Assets in Grants and Expenses per Year
Mandated Five Percent is a Floor Not a Ceiling Most people in the philanthropic world are familiar with the 5% payout requirement that nonprofits must observe to maintain their tax exempt status. Therefor, it's quite natural to assume that foundations take the 5% rate as scripture and rarely deviate from it. The filings of some of the largest foundations - Ford, Lilly, … [Read more...] about Foundations Disburse 8% of Average Assets in Grants and Expenses per Year
Asset Allocation Different Perspectives
One of the most basic concepts in portfolio management is that asset allocation typically determines the lion's share of investment returns. If your portfolio is mostly U.S. stocks, it will probably perform similarly to the stock market indices (assuming a diversified portfolio), alternatively if your portfolio has a significant weight in bonds, it will probably skew to fixed … [Read more...] about Asset Allocation Different Perspectives
First Quarter Update: How the Stock Market Decline is Likely to Affect Foundation Assets and Giving
How Much are Foundation Assets Down? Preliminary March estimates from our affiliate, FoundationMark, indicate that foundation assets are down about 12.7% since the beginning of the year. As seen in the chart and table above, the coronavirus pandemic has had a chilling impact on global equity markets, just one month after … [Read more...] about First Quarter Update: How the Stock Market Decline is Likely to Affect Foundation Assets and Giving
Asset Allocation Doesn’t Change Much Even in Crises
The chart above shows that foundation asset allocation hasn't varied much year to year. Two long term trends have been a reduction in cash and fixed income holdings and an increase in "Investments - Other". The category "Investments - Other" is a specific line on the foundation's annual filing. The underlying assets may include alternative assets such as private equity and … [Read more...] about Asset Allocation Doesn’t Change Much Even in Crises