News and Analysis of Foundation Investment Performance

Trustee Resources

Asset Allocation Different Perspectives

By

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

By

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

By

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

Expect a Slowdown in Giving

By

Market Effects on Foundation Giving Giving USA provides the results of annual surveys (below) which show the historical perspective on foundation giving. One can see that giving is fairly constant, even throughout the financial crisis of 2008, giving fell about 5% from 2007 levels to 2011 before a strong upward trend through 2018, the last survey results which are typically … [Read more...] about Expect a Slowdown in Giving