Endowment Management for Higher Education, Second Edition

Higher education endowments are an indispensable resource for covering escalating costs, strengthening financial resilience, supporting important campus initiatives, providing financial aid to students, and keeping higher education affordable. Because of the importance of these assets in the revenue mix, the work of college or university investment committee members has never been more important for boosting or preserving investment returns. Opportunities to beat the market are growing scarcer, however, while the opportunities for costly missteps mount.

In this new, second edition of Endowment Management for Higher Education, Nicole Wellmann Kraus advances our understanding of effective strategic oversight of endowments to strengthen the prospects for investment success and institutional financial health, as she sheds light on the demands of a sector in disruption. A new chapter from Valentina Glaviano on ESG investing reflects the increasing emphasis on mission- and values-oriented investment policies and articulates the value of a clear process for determining the best approach to responsible investing that fits each institution’s needs. Also updated are chapters on best endowment management practices, the investment policy statement, portfolio construction, hiring a CIO/OCIO, and risk management.

Nicole Wellmann Kraus, CFA, is the chief client officer at Strategic Investment Group. She oversees the development of client relationships and drives the firm’s marketing strategy. She also serves as a member of Strategic’s Board of Managers.

Valentina Glaviano, CIMA^®, managing director, is responsible for building new client relationships at Strategic Investment Group. She has over 35 years of experience working in investment management holding senior leadership positions at Guggenheim Investments, iShares, and Lazard Asset Management.

Jay A. Yoder, CFA, brings multiple viewpoints to the analysis of endowment management. From 2006 to 2014, he served as investment committee chair (functionally the CIO) at Albright College. Yoder is now global strategy leader, natural resources for Mercer consulting, a MarshMcLennan company. He is the author of numerous articles and another AGB publication, The Investment Committee (2011).

With Thanks to AGB Sustaining Sponsor: Strategic Investment Group

Nikki Kraus
Chief Client Officer, Head of Sales and Relationship Management

Testimonials:

“The authors have advanced new knowledge for effective strategic oversight that strengthens the prospects for investment success and institutional financial health, and sheds light on the demands of a sector in disruption.”

“Fortunately, Nikki Kraus and her colleagues have gathered into this short, experience-based book a comprehensive guide to best practices in endowment management for higher education, which situates good governance of the endowment as one of the most significant oversight responsibilities exercised by governing boards. It comes in a convenient, easy-to-read checklist format—with wise asides—that both new and experienced trustees will find interesting, useful, and splendidly helpful as they strive to provide good governance to the institutions they love and serve.”