Type: Whitepaper

TIFF has a long history of making “opportunistic” private investments. The label can easily be misunderstood. To some, “opportunistic” may sound short term and risky or imply some sort of exception to an otherwise well-founded, long-term strategy. Sometimes the difference between a single, off-the-beaten-path investment and a less traditional but long-term strategic investment approach may seem blurry, especially to our members, who aren’t with us analyzing investments every day. In the past, we at TIFF even employed a fund category labeled “opportunistic” for many of our direct investments in companies alongside our managers and investments in fund interests acquired on the secondary market. The category was more of a convenience than a statement about ranking assets or strategies. The fact is, thinking of secondaries and direct PE investments as somehow outside the bounds of a core private investment approach devalues the importance of this form of investing to our PE program.

This is an excerpt from a longer article. Please download the PDF to read more.

Note: This article was first published in March 2017; it has been updated in September 2023.

Investors have weathered a sustained challenging market environment with continuing effects of the pandemic compounded by war and macroeconomic factors.

In periods where returns and liquidity are under pressure, even the most sophisticated investors can be tempted to reduce – or even eliminate – commitments to Private Markets.

We espouse to our clients the importance of not trying to “time” Private Markets – and instead to commit consistently at a steady level year in and year out.

Download our new white paper: Screw Your Courage to the Sticking Place: Continuing to Invest in Private Markets through 2023

Cash is an unglamorous – but critical – element of portfolio management. For the past couple of years yields on cash-like instruments were negligible, leading endowments to hold cash in bank accounts bearing little to no interest. This year’s increases in short-term interest rates have changed this calculus. Non-profits are now able to explore more active approaches to cash management which have the potential to realize some additional return in a market environment that has been challenging for all asset classes. TIFF explores how organizations can define cash needs and help identify what strategy may be appropriate for them.

Over the course of our careers, we’ve learned some important lessons that professors didn’t teach us in economics or finance classes. We believe it is useful to discuss three of these ideas that we wish we had understood on our first days on the job. In our new white paper, “Three Ideas I Wish I Had Understood From The Start: Lessons That Have Made Us Better Investors”, we examine:

• The importance of creativity and how it is often unappreciated
• Why being open-minded is more important than being smart
• Why a steady temperament might be the most important characteristic of all

Investors have endured a challenging six months in the markets as multiple macro-economic events have driven uncertainty to near-term highs. With risk being top of mind for investors, we believe it is useful to discuss how TIFF approaches risk management within our Diversifying Strategies team. In our new white paper, “Stayin’ Alive: The Importance of Risk Management in a Risky Market”, we aim to:

• Introduce some of the metrics and tools we use to monitor risk
• Explain the philosophy behind how we measure hedge fund risk management
• Help readers gain a better understanding of why risk management is critical to long-term portfolio performance
• Bonus: recommend some great tunes to listen to while reading the paper!