Cambridge Associates Governance Quiz

Take the Governance Quiz

Answer these ten questions to assess which management model might be right for your endowment.

Let's get started

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The Portfolio

What’s the asset size of your endowment portfolio?

Under $100 million

$100 million - $250 million

Over $1 billion

Over $250 million - $1 billion

Part 1:

The Investment Committee

Part 2:

The Investment Management Team

Part 3:

The Portfolio

How much of your public equity portfolio is actively managed?

Part 1:

The Investment Committee

Part 2:

The Investment Management Team

Part 3:

Less than 10%

10% - 50%

Greater than 50%

Back

The Portfolio

How much of your portfolio is invested in alternative assets*?

Less than 10%

10% - 40%

Greater than 40%

Part 1:

The Investment Committee

Part 2:

The Investment Management Team

Part 3:

*E.g., private investments and hedge funds. Please use alternative asset target rather than current NAV.

Back

The Portfolio

How many members of your investment committee have institutional investment expertise?

Part 1:

The Investment Committee

Part 2:

The Investment Management Team

Part 3:

Few

Some

Most

Back

The Portfolio

Describe the attendance profile of your committee meetings

Part 1:

The Investment Committee

Part 2:

The Investment Management Team

Part 3:

Low

Medium

High

It is difficult to assemble the group; members often miss meetings

It is challenging to assemble the group but we achieve a quorum

Most committee members attend most meetings

Back

The Portfolio

Is additional committee work required outside of normal quarterly meetings in order to make decisions?

Part 1:

The Investment Committee

Part 2:

The Investment Management Team

Part 3:

Frequently

Sometimes

Never

Back

The Portfolio

How would you rate the efficiency of your decision-making process?

Part 1:

The Investment Committee

Part 2:

The Investment Management Team

Part 3:

Low

Medium

High

Difficult to arrive at a decision; some members have disproportionate voices

Eventually arrive at decisions; some members feel unsatisfied with result

Easily arrive at decisions; productive discussions ensure all members feel heard

Back

The Portfolio

How do you and your Investment Committee envision spending your time and expertise?

Part 1:

The Investment Committee

Part 2:

The Investment Management Team

Part 3:

Focus on Managers

Hybrid

Meet with managers, make all hiring/firing decisions, and set investment policy

Meet select managers, maintain decision-making on manager hiring/firing, and set investment policy

Back

Set investment policy, oversee management and results, delegate day-to-day investment decisions

Focus on Managers

Hybrid

Focus on Oversight

The Portfolio

How much time do staff members* spend on investment operations?

Part 1:

The Investment Committee

Part 2:

The Investment Management Team

Part 3:

Requires significant time

(10+ hours per week)

Requires some time

(5-9 hours per week)

Requires little time

(less than 5 hours per week)

*Those not dedicated to investments, who work to complete subscriptions, redemptions, investment accounting, etc.

See the result

Back

The Portfolio

How many of your institutional staff members are dedicated primarily to investments?

Part 1:

The Investment Committee

Part 2:

The Investment Management Team

Part 3:

1-2

Back

Your Governance Score

Your answers suggest that your endowment could be best served with your investment committee maintaining discretion. With your portfolio size, complexity, and the experience of your committee, your institution could be well supported under the direction of an advisor with regular committee meetings.

Restart

Maintain Discretion

Consider Outsourced CIO

Your answers suggest that while your investment committee maintaining discretion of your endowment might work for you, it may be worth exploring other governance models to see if one could more effectively serve your institution.

Your answers suggest that your investment committee may be experiencing some challenges related to your management model. If you aren't already doing so, you might benefit from delegating the day-to-day decision-making to an OCIO provider. Using this model, your committee would continue to set overall strategy and provide portfolio oversight.

Your answers suggest that your current portfolio and resources are consistent with institutions that could benefit by outsourcing day-to-day investment decisions. When operating under this model, your committee would set overall strategy and provide portfolio oversight.

Maintain Discretion

Consider Outsourced CIO

Maintain Discretion

Consider Outsourced CIO

Maintain Discretion

Consider Outsourced CIO

Consider having other investment committee members complete this same exercise to see if you all agree or if there are discrepancies in how members view the effectiveness of your current governance structure. Please reach out to us to discuss how we can help you find the optimal governance model to best fit the needs of your institution.

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Research

Institutions using this model typically have: •A portfolio that is growing in complexity •An IC that can make decisions with the support of an advisor •Sufficient staff and advisor resources to conduct due diligence and manage operational demands

Consider having other investment committee members complete this same exercise to see if you all agree or if there are discrepencies in how members view the effectiveness of your current governance structure.

Your answers suggest that your endowment could be best served with your investment committee maintaining discretion with the support of a direct advisor. However, it may be worth exploring other management models to see if one could more effectively serve your institution.

Institutions using this model typically have: •A more complex portfolio •A strongly committed IC that may lack investment experience or sufficient time to make all investment decisions or has determined it's not the best use of their time and expertise •Limited staff resources so that operations may be a challence

Your answers suggest that your investment committee may be experiencing some challenges related to your management model. If you aren't already doing so, you might benefit from delegating the day-to-day decision-making to an OCIO provider. Using this model, your IC would set overall strategy and provide portfolio oversight.

A complex portfolio that requires daily attention, timely decisions, and professional management An IC that focuses all of its time setting investment policy and guidelines rather than making day-to-day investment decisions Limited staff resources so that operations may be a challenge

Your answers suggest that your current portfolio and resources are consistent with institutions that could benefit by outsourcing day-to-day investment decisions. When operating under this model, your IC would set the overall strategy and provide portfolio oversight.

• • •

Institutions using this model typically have:

A more complex portfolio A strongly committed IC that may lack investment experience or sufficient time to make all investment decisions or has determined it's not the best use of their time and expertise Limited staff resources so that operations may be a challenge

Institutions using this model typically have:

• • •

A portfolio that is growing in complexity An IC that can make decisions with the support of an advisor Sufficient staff and advisor resources to conduct due diligence and manage operational demands

Institutions using this model typically have:

• • •

A less complex portfolio that includes passive investments & lower alternatives allocation An IC with sufficient investment expertise that's quickly able to make decisions An advisor that does due diligence on investment managers

Institutions using this model typically have:

• • •

37-50