Services Tags: Investment Consulting

2025 Investment Symposium

Photograph of the Chicago skyline at sunset, looking south with Hancock Tower near center of frame

Friday, September 26, 2025
8:00 AM – 2:00 PM

Marquette clients – We hope you’ll join us at our 2025 Investment Symposium! This year’s event will be held in person in Chicago and virtually via livestream.

Our program will begin with an investment manager panel exploring investment opportunities and risks presented by the AI revolution and how firms are using the technology to refine and improve their investment process. From there, our research team and consultants will present several flash talks covering timely investment topics and a snapshot of the current market landscape across various asset classes. Rounding out the day, we’re excited to host Milwood Hobbs, Jr., of Oaktree Capital Management for a fireside chat keynote.

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AGENDA

All times in Central Time

8:00am — Registration Open
Livestream will begin at 8:30
Breakfast served until 10:00

8:45 — Welcome Remarks by Brian Wrubel, Chief Executive Officer

9:00 — Opening Panel
Artificial Intelligence: From Investment Opportunities to Practical Implementation
Rich Mathieson, CA, Managing Director, Systematic Equities, Blackrock
Roland Reynolds, Senior Managing Director, Industry Ventures
Seth Weingram, Ph.D., Senior Vice President, Director, Client Advisory, Acadian Asset Management

10:00 — Break

10:15 — Flash Talks

Public vs. Private: A Fixed Income Collision
Frank Valle, CFA, CAIA, Associate Director of Fixed Income
Chad Sheaffer, CFA, CAIA, Senior Research Analyst
James Torgerson, Senior Research Analyst

What Makes a Good Fiduciary?
Linsey Schoemehl Payne, Partner, Chief Compliance Officer
Stephanie Osten, Principal

The Changing Face of Real Estate
Greg Leonberger, FSA, EA, MAAA, FCA, Partner, Director of Research

11:00 — Break

11:15 — Flash Talks

U.S. Equity Markets: Trend or New Normal?
Catherine Hillier, Senior Research Analyst

Private Equity in 2026 and Beyond: Allocations, Expectations, and the New Reality
Amy Miller, Associate Director of Private Equity
Chris Caparelli, CFA, Partner

Will U.S. Exceptionalism Continue for Global Equities?
David Hernandez, CFA, Director of Traditional Manager Search

12:00pm — Lunch Break

12:45 — Keynote: Fireside Chat
Milwood Hobbs, Jr., Managing Director at Oaktree Capital Management, in conversation with Greg Leonberger

2:00 — Adjourn

 

VENUE DETAILS

The Union League Club
65 W. Jackson Blvd.
Chicago, IL 60604
(312) 427-7800

Fiduciary Education: Endowments & Foundations

This video is a recording of a live webinar held June 3 by Marquette consultants Stephanie Osten, Linsey Schoemehl Payne, and Mike Piotrowski, CAIA, discussing fiduciary responsibilities and best practices for endowment and foundation nonprofits.

We begin by outlining the fiduciary role, defining the term fiduciary in the context of nonprofit organizations, recognizing who qualifies as a fiduciary, and identifying the key duties and responsibilities of a fiduciary. From there, we describe the investment committee, including its key duties and best practices for both membership and investment program management. Finally, we conclude with general best practices, from recordkeeping to onboarding to governance.

For more information about Marquette’s approach to working with endowment and foundation clients, fiduciary best practices, or any of our presenters, please reach out using the Contact Us page above. Sign up for research alerts to be notified when we publish new videos here.

What Has Private Equity Done to Small-Cap Stocks?

Private markets have grown exponentially over the last two decades, driven by attractive long-term returns, diversification benefits, and early-stage value creation. As companies stay private longer, much of their initial growth can be realized outside of public markets, which could challenge the small-cap premium and contribute to a shift in the composition of public markets. The following newsletter examines this dynamic and potential impact on small-cap stocks.

Nat Kellogg Speaking at GCM Grosvenor 2025 SEM Consortium 10/28

On Tuesday, October 28, Nat Kellogg, CFA will be speaking at GCM Grosvenor’s 2025 Small and Emerging Managers Conference, SEM Consortium in New York City.

Nat will be joining a panel entitled, “Advising Through Uncertainty: Consultant Insights for the Current Market,” with fellow investment consultants discussing how they are navigating the current market environment with clients for LPs to better understand current trends and opportunities and managers to identify which consultants could be a fit with their strategy.

SEM Consortium’s mission is to educate institutional investors and consultants on best practices of allocating to small and emerging managers, while providing managers with training and insights to help them fundraise and grow their businesses.  For more information, please visit the event website.

Tim Burdick and David Hernandez Speaking at Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee Event 10/16

On Thursday, October 16, Tim Burdick, CFA and David Hernandez, CFA will be speaking at an educational session hosted by the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee: “Fundholders Investment Update: Market Review & Global Equity Outlook.”

The conversation will cover:

  • Current market trends and federal policy shifts that shape our investment environment
  • An in-depth review of Community Foundation’s portfolio, built for resilience and long-term growth
  • Insight into global equities and what lies ahead in 2025, paired with a perspective on how these dynamics strengthen the impact of your individual fund in the community

For more information, please visit the Community Foundation of Middle Tennessee website.

Marquette Speaking at Institutional Investor 2025 Roundtable for Consultants & Institutional Investors 10/8

On Wednesday, October 8, Nat Kellogg, CFA, Frank Valle, CFA, CAIA, and Evan Frazier, CFA, CAIA will be speaking at Institutional Investor’s 2025 Roundtable for Consultants & Institutional Investors in Chicago.

Nat will be joining a panel entitled, “Consultant CEO/CIO Perspective: Keep Calm & Carry On – Steering Through Volatility,” discussing the following questions:

  • It’s been an interesting year…. What are your biggest takeaways, surprises, and/or lessons learned?
  • Are your approaches to risk and asset allocation changing in this environment? How are you advising your clients for the near and longer term? How to form long-term return expectations amid such heightened uncertainty and volatility? How to prioritize investments/assets to invest in?
  • Beyond diversification, how do you mitigate volatility in portfolios? What does a resilient portfolio look like today?
  • What investment opportunities are you most/least excited about? Are there opportunities emerging from the shifting market dynamics that you are paying particular attention to?
  • How are you viewing the ‘democratization’ of private markets? Will this unlock more opportunities for institutional investors or limit them?
  • Have your manager selection processes changed, or do you anticipate them changing? If so, why and how?
  • At this event last year we discussed the evolving role of investment consultants and the growing scope of asset owner needs: how has this conversation moved forward over this past 12 months?
  • How are you viewing continued consolidation within the investment consulting and the asset management industries? What are the implications for allocators?
  • Are you approaching 2026 with optimism or pessimism? What is one piece of professional advice that you would give the allocators in the audience?

Frank will be co-leading a session entitled, “Think Tank: Balancing Liquidity and Diversification in Fixed Income Portfolios.”

Evan will be joining a panel entitled, “Strategically Leveraging Hedge Funds Today – The Allocator Perspective,” described as follows: As allocators reassess the role of hedge funds in their portfolios we dig into the “how’s and the why’s” — are they being used to offset privates in the portfolio, as a fixed income substitute or for something else? Are they primarily being used for diversification and downside protection or to capture alpha in a higher-volatility environment? Portable alpha and quant strategies are back in vogue — what are the ingredients from a macroeconomic perspective for differing strategies? In this session we hear how allocators are leveraging hedge funds, what they are looking for from their inclusion and how they are capitalizing on their strategies.

The Roundtable for Consultants & Institutional Investors will offer insights from leading industry experts and a forum for valuable exchanges with peers. For more information, please visit the event webpage.

As Real Estate Finds Its Bottom, Alternative Sectors Become More Prominent

Since the onset of the pandemic, the commercial real estate market has experienced significant volatility — first benefiting from a post-pandemic surge, then grappling with a sharp downturn, and now showing signs of stabilization. With the third quarter of 2024 marking the first quarter of positive returns after eight consecutive quarters of losses, the fourth quarter performance added to the case that the asset class has found a floor. This newsletter outlines recent improvements not only across traditional sectors but also an expanding set of alternative property sectors. These alternatives, which include data centers, life sciences facilities, self-storage, and senior housing, reflect the changing composition of institutional real estate portfolios and the growing emphasis on diversification beyond the traditional core sectors. We also explore drivers of demand, specific opportunities in alternative real estate, and value-added real estate.

2025 OCIO Update

Marquette Associates is proud to be recognizing 15 years of providing OCIO management services. We stepped into this business in 2010 at the request of clients looking to delegate decision-making authority for their investment programs. Through the trust of that growing cohort of clients, our asset base has grown to $28 billion across 231 portfolios on behalf of 99 individual clients as of June 30, 2025. Please read Marquette’s 2025 OCIO Update from Brian Wrubel, Nat Kellogg, CFA, and Jessica Noviskis, CFA at the link below.

Read > 2025 OCIO Update

1Q 2025 Market Insights

This video is a recording of a live webinar held April 16 by Marquette’s research team analyzing the first quarter of 2025 (and recent weeks) across the economy and various asset classes as well as themes we’ll be monitoring in the coming months.

Our Market Insights series examines the primary asset classes we cover for clients including the U.S. economy, fixed income, U.S. and non-U.S. equities, hedge funds, real estate, infrastructure, private equity, and private credit, with presentations by our research analysts and directors.

Featuring:
Greg Leonberger, FSA, EA, MAAA, FCA, Partner, Director of Research
Frank Valle, CFA, CAIA, Associate Director of Fixed Income
Catherine Hillier, Senior Research Analyst
David Hernandez, CFA, Director of Traditional Manager Search
Evan Frazier, CFA, CAIA, Senior Research Analyst
Dennis Yu, Research Analyst
Hayley McCollum, Senior Research Analyst
Chad Sheaffer, CFA, CAIA Senior Research Analyst

Sign up for research alerts to be invited to future webinars and notified when we publish new videos.

If you have any questions, please send our team an email.

 

Bracing for Stagflation

As markets swirl and stagflation fears mount, what should investors do?
Our newsletter last week outlined the broad context of President Trump’s new tariff policy as well as the most notable market impacts. Granted, the news seems to change daily, as does the market’s reaction; trying to pen a targeted newsletter is an almost worthless endeavor because by the time the ink has dried, markets have shifted due to another policy pivot. In the short term, the omnipresent cloud of uncertainty will continue to drive market volatility and investor sentiment. The best recipe for investors to weather this storm is patience and discipline, both of which can be difficult to come by in the current environment.

As we step back and take a longer-term view of the future, however, the threat of stagflation is becoming more realistic. Coined as a combination of the words “stagnation” and “inflation,” it is an economic backdrop characterized by high inflation, slow economic growth, and in some cases, high unemployment.

In this edition, we examine which asset classes are most exposed to stagflation and which can offer shelter.