Services Tags: Investment Consulting

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.

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.

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.

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

Matt Nowak Speaking at 2025 11th Annual GAPPT Trustee School 9/16

On September 16, Matt Nowak, AIF® will be speaking at the Georgia Association of Public Pension Trustees (GAPPT) Eleventh Annual Trustee School in Macon, Georgia.

Matt will be presenting an educational session for attendees entitled, “What Does it Take to Retire on a DC Plan ONLY.”  The GAPPT is a nonprofit organization formed to provide education and professional development opportunities to trustees and administrators of Georgia’s public pension plans. Subject areas span fiduciary responsibility and liability, board governance, investment acumen, and plan administration. For more information, please visit the GAPPT website.

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.

Chris Grimm and Dave Smith Speaking at With Intelligence 2025 Fall Retreat 9/16

On Tuesday, September 16, Chris Grimm, CFA, CAIA and Dave Smith, CFA will be speaking at With Intelligence’s Fall Retreat in Chicago.

Chris will be moderating a session entitled, “Is Private Credit’s Alpha Just Access?” described as follows: At this point, it would be a glaring omission if a private credit firm’s pitch deck didn’t cite their “proprietary deal flow” as a competitive advantage. But if everyone has it, does anyone? And if deal sourcing isn’t a competitive advantage, what is driving the private credit universe’s claims of steady, yet robust, returns?

Dave will be moderating a session entitled, “LP Bedfellows Matter, But How Much – and What Can Allocators Do About It?” described as follows: It’s not exactly the prisoners’ dilemma, but it’s close: With many asset classes and managers, who you’re invested alongside does matter. The question is: How much, and can allocators do anything about it besides pray? Join us for a discussion around the makeup of an asset manager’s client base, the implications of being invested alongside certain allocator types in both private and public markets, and the game theory that can arise when there is a rush for the exits.

With Intelligence is a global business information organization focused on the asset management industry. For more information, please visit their website.

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.