The ESG Rule Explained, Part 1: Fiduciary Principles
Tom Shingler interviews a legal expert on the ESG rule issued by the Department of Labor.
Nonprofits and the Pandemic: What to Do Now
For nonprofits, this environment creates unique challenges, with many organizations not only contending with the health crisis but also the impact of portfolio returns on their organization’s ability to fund grants, provide scholarships, and support programs and operations essential to their constituents
Quarterly Results for Institutional Investors Reflect the Initial Impact of the Pandemic
Four of the primary types of institutional investors (public and corporate defined benefit (DB) plans; nonprofits; and Taft-Hartley plans) experienced sharp declines in the first quarter and smaller drops for the 12 months ending March 31. A quarterly rebalanced 60% S&P 500/40% Bloomberg Barclays Aggregate portfolio declined 10.9% during the quarter and 0.4% over the […]
Equity Risk Looms Large for Fund Sponsors
The median fund sponsor in Callan’s database gained 2.7% in the third quarter. Taft-Hartley plans (+3.0%) were the best-performing sponsor by type, as they were the previous quarter; corporate plans (+2.3%) showed the lowest increase.
Non-U.S. Bias Rewarded Plans in 2017
Endowments/foundations (+3.8%) performed best last quarter, followed by public plans (+3.7%), Taft-Hartley plans (+3.6%), and corporate plans (+3.5%). For all funds, the return was +3.7%, according to Callan’s database. Plans with assets below $100 million performed best by fund size, up 3.7%, compared to 3.6% for both medium plans ($100 million-$1 billion) and large plans. […]
Tax Bill’s Impact on Foundations and Higher Ed
The tax overhaul bill signed into law by President Trump at the end of last year could have significant long-term effects on endowments and foundations—particularly nonprofit organizations dependent on charitable donations and certain private colleges and universities. Changes in tax policy will often alter economic and investment behavior, and Callan anticipates this revision will be […]
Managing Risk While Hunting for Returns
Low interest rates and low return expectations continued to drive strategic allocation discussions for fund sponsors. Many felt compelled to take on market risk to reach return targets. Sponsors are now examining if there is anything they can do to tamp down the risk within their large growth allocation short of actually reducing it. For […]