Even among those with years of higher education experience, endowments and how they work can be challenging to describe. Experts will explain the legal and governing structure of endowment funds and how they are managed to provide colleges, universities, and other nonprofit organizations with a steady and reliable source of funding over the long term. This session explores the basic structure of endowments and covers how they are managed to support current operations without shortchanging the future.

This webinar provides an overview of the results of the 2024 NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments, the most comprehensive analysis of endowment investment returns, asset allocations, and governance policies and practices at U.S. higher education institutions and affiliated foundations. College and university chief investment officers and other panelists will look back at the investment returns, asset allocations, and other factors that influenced performance in FY24. Panelists will address the challenges of the financial market conditions they are facing in 2024 and beyond.

Higher education institutions are grappling with numerous challenges that could affect their operations and financial stability, including declining enrollments, increased tuition discounting, and rising student activism. Both public and private institutions of all sizes are encountering significant obstacles and critical decision points. Mercer’s research paper, “Higher Education: Evolving and Advancing through the Sector’s Challenges,” delves into these issues and offers a range of potential investment, operational, and governance strategies to address them. Join us to examine and expand upon these topics.

Institutions with endowments must have strong relationships between the CFO, academic, investment, development, and governance functions. This session touches on how many institutional areas must work together and why. Topics include accounting and record keeping for individual funds, managing donor restrictions, fiduciary responsibility, donor reporting, funds functioning as endowment, public perception, and the importance of communicating endowment spending benefits internally and externally.

This webinar will explore cutting-edge investment tools and technologies. By integrating real-time data, advanced visualization, and multi-asset class analysis, investors can streamline portfolio oversight, enhance reporting, and make more informed investment decisions. This session will showcase how the University of Georgia Foundation (UGF) is leveraging an advanced analytics platform, to elevate its endowment management practices with sophisticated multi-asset class analysis and dynamic reporting tools to better align its investment strategies with its institutional objectives.

Although universities with mega endowments make the headlines, 70 percent of all endowments are less than $100 million. Institutions with smaller endowments tend to invest very differently. The perception of risk can leave potential return on the table. Panelists focus on the reasons institutions with smaller endowments sub-optimize their investment portfolios and offer a framework that can improve results. Such a framework will address spending decisions, operations, revenue composition and trends, liquidity analysis and needs, and aligning the portfolio with the institution’s risk profile.

This webinar will feature a panel of endowment leaders from EIB participant institutions who will share their firsthand experiences in using the tool. We will discuss successful implementation and communication strategies that foster a culture of transparency and collaboration. Throughout the webinar, we will reflect on lessons learned and provide insights that can save time and resources for others embarking on similar journeys. Participants will leave with a detailed roadmap for initiating benchmarking practices at their institutions, including how to identify key metrics, establish clear communication protocols, and foster collaboration among stakeholders.