Month: October 2023

TIFF was named as a finalist for the 2023 Chief Investment Officer (CIO) Industry Innovation Awards in the OCIO category.

Since 2010, Chief Investment Officer, an ISS Media brand, has been recognizing institutional asset owners and the asset managers and consultants who serve them with its annual Industry Innovation Awards.

Nominations are called for in September and finalists, selected by CIO’s editorial staff, are announced in October. All finalists fill out an application for the awards. There is no fee to participate.

For asset owners, winners are selected by a panel of industry judges and CIO editorial staff. Winners are announced at the annual Industry Innovation Awards Dinner in New York City in December.

On October 18, 2023, TIFF hosted a one-hour webinar centered on the white paper titled, “Wind of Change: A Favorable Environment for Hedge Funds” hosted by Zhe Shen, CFA, and Fiona Chow, CFA.

2022 saw one of biggest shifts in recent market history. As we emerged from our COVID bunkers to a record rain of stimulus – both fiscal and monetary which caused inflation to rear its ugly head. In response, the FED was initially slow to react but later played catch up in a big way by unleashing one of the most aggressive series of rate hikes in history. This has created a slew of uncertainty in the form of a potential recession, credit contraction, and upheaval of business models designed for a zero-rate environment. Hedge funds, by their adaptive nature have an edge in navigating these uncertain markets.

Read the White Paper: Explore the detailed insights presented in the white paper, click here.

Watch the Webinar: If you missed the live webinar or want to revisit the discussion, you can view the recording, click here.

This webinar is for general informational purposes only and does not constitute an offer to sell nor a solicitation of an offer to buy securities. The asset classes discussed may not be suitable for all investors. All expressions of opinion are subject to change. Past performance does not guarantee future results. All investments are subject to risk, including the possible loss of principal.

TIFF Investment Management Appoints Jim Russo, CFA as a Director in the Member Strategy Group

Former Crewcial Partners executive joins TIFF to lend expertise to nonprofit clients

Radnor, PA — October 16, 2023 — TIFF Investment Management (“TIFF”), an asset management firm dedicated to delivering comprehensive outsourced CIO (OCIO) and private equity investment solutions primarily to endowments, foundations, and other charitable organizations, today announced that Jim Russo, CFA has joined the firm as a Director in its Member Strategy Group. Mr. Russo, with 35 years of asset management experience, will be responsible for managing member relationships and identifying custom asset allocation strategies best suited to each member’s needs.

Before joining TIFF, Mr. Russo was a senior investment consultant at Crewcial Partners, where he performed asset allocation modeling, manager due diligence, and spending policy analysis, as well as managing relationships with a wide range of nonprofit clients. Prior to his 15 years at Crewcial, Mr. Russo was Senior Portfolio Manager for Alliance Growth Equity at AllianceBernstein and in portfolio management and due diligence leadership roles at J.P. Morgan’s Private Bank and Asset Management businesses.

“A key part of TIFF’s mission is to develop targeted strategies that further the investment and mission objectives of members,” said Mr. Russo. “I am thrilled to join a team of dedicated professionals and look forward to partnering with TIFF’s members in pursuit of financial and organizational success.”

“In today’s market environment, the value of customized advice and investment services cannot be emphasized enough,” said Jessica Portis, Head of Member Portfolio Management and Services at TIFF. “Jim brings invaluable institutional experience in nonprofit client service to the Member Strategy Group, and we look forward to introducing him to our members.”

“We understand that our members expect strong investment results and equally strong service,” said Kane Brenan, CEO of TIFF. “Jim’s background in serving nonprofit institutions and his investment expertise bring incredible depth to TIFF’s Member Strategy Group and further reaffirms our commitment to providing first class advice and service to our members.”

About TIFF Investment Management
TIFF is an asset management firm dedicated to delivering comprehensive outsourced CIO (OCIO) and private equity investment solutions to primarily endowments, foundations, and other charitable organizations. Our primary objective is to enhance investment returns for our members (clients) while also optimizing their costs and reducing their administrative burden.

For over 30 years, TIFF has strived to be the nonprofit community’s most trusted investment partner. We specialize in providing investment solutions that help our members fulfill their mission and achieve their financial goals. We offer two primary solutions for our members – comprehensive advisory solutions, and more specialized asset class specific solutions. As of June 30, 2023, TIFF manages approximately $8 billion, including committed capital, on behalf of our members.

Contact: For media inquiries, please email: pro-tiff@prosek.com.

Kane Brenan, CEO of TIFF Investment Management, emphasizes the ongoing debate surrounding the performance of private equity strategies, suggesting that some investors are questioning whether the glory days of private equity are a thing of the past. Brenan underscores the importance of institutions selecting the right managers and hints that underwhelming results may prompt endowments to re-evaluate to find the most qualified managers.

Read the full article here.

Last year, we advised members on how to take advantage of rising short-term rates and harvest yield on cash holdings. Now, as this period of rapid and frequent rate hikes may be ending, we offer our guidance on how to navigate a phase of stable and possibly declining interest rates. Specifically, we share views on:

• Adding duration to lock in yield
• Mitigating the duration risk that comes with longer-term rates

We also review the four categories we use to group cash, determined by timing of expected need.

• Reserve funds provide the greatest opportunity to extend duration and lock in yield

We recommend a strategy to take advantage of the current rate environment using Reserve funds – even as we caution that members must have some degree of confidence that those funds will not need to be accessed prior to maturity of the recommended investments.