The Institutional Investor Landscape

An update on endowments, family offices, insurers, and more

The world of finance has shifted radically in the last few years, featuring a new credit cycle, the AI revolution, new geopolitical conflicts, and—this year—a massive global election cycle. Find out how institutional investors are navigating this volatile landscape below.

ENDOWMENTS AND FOUNDATIONS

How Can Foundation Endowments Achieve Greater Impact? (Bridgespan Social Impact)

Philanthropy has a rich history of addressing the most pressing issues facing humanity. Here is how endowments can make a greater impact than before.

11 Trends in Philanthropy for 2024 (Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy)

What the authors see most clearly for philanthropy in 2024 and beyond is the field wrestling with some of the most pressing issues facing humanity.

Endowment Performance 2023: You Never See Them Coming (Charles Skorina)

How have endowments performed in 2023 and how have the underpinning performance drivers changed? Are these investors better positioned?

Top Investment Considerations for Endowments and Foundations 2024 (Mercer)

The instability and uncertainty that have characterized the global economy and geopolitics for the past three years have provided a familiar backdrop for all investors.

Mega Endowment FY 2023 Returns: Return to the Mean (NEPC)

For multiple years, the largest institutions have benefitted from larger allocations to private investment opportunities.

FAMILY OFFICES AND PWM

Family Office Investment Report: Q4 2023 Capital Flows (Citi Private Bank)

Family offices in Europe, the Middle East and Africa and North America led the way in putting cash to work, while those elsewhere kept cash allocations steady.

Costs Matter, and Other Axioms on Tax-Efficient Investing (Vanguard)

For compliance reasons, this paper is only accessible in the United States

For many investors, the low-hanging tax fruit is their 401(k), IRA, or other tax-advantaged retirement plan.

Offering Tailored Advice on Sustainable Investing (BNP Paribas AM)

This timely podcast offers wealth advisors a route to better discuss sustainable investments with their clients.

The Wealth of Generations (VoxEU)

The changing patterns in lifecycle wealth have profound implications for investors' understanding of macroeconomic trends in household wealth and saving.

PENSION FUNDS

Pension Funding Index March 2024 (Milliman)

The Milliman 100 Pension Funding Index projects the funded status for pension plans included in this regularly published study.

Government Pension Fund Global Annual Report 2023 (Norges Bank)

Measured in the fund’s currency basket, the return for the year was 16.1%, or 2,222 billion kroner, before management costs.

LGPS Intelligence: Options for Mitigating Equity Risk (LGIM)

For compliance reasons, this paper is NOT accessible in the United States and Canada

There is a potentially attractive opportunity for LGPS funds to seek some risk mitigation against falling equity markets.

Target End-States for DB Pension Schemes (British Actuarial Journal)

For compliance reasons, this paper is only accessible in the United Kingdom

Among other things, this paper provides specific recommendations for the actuarial profession and the pensions regulator to take forward.

Pension Liquidity Risk (Netspar)

Pension funds often hedge the interest rate risk arising from their liabilities by taking fixed receiver positions in long-dated interest rate swaps.

INSURANCE COMPANIES

Generative AI Use in the Insurance Industry (Nomura Research Institute)

In the future, insurance companies may be using multiple AIs, just as they currently employ different professionals.

InsuranceTalks: Indexing Covered Calls (S&P Dow Jones Indices)

Index-based covered call strategies seek to reflect a consistent stream of hypothetical option premia that may assist in the reduction of equity return dispersion.

Insurance Outlook 2024 (Invesco)

For compliance reasons, this paper is only accessible in certain geographies

Insurers should expect 2024 to offer more breadth of opportunities than has been observed for a number of years, this report argues.

Income Strips for Insurers: A Natural Fit? (M&G Investments)

For compliance reasons, this paper is only accessible in certain geographies

Traditionally, insurers have bought lower-yielding government bonds to match their long-term liabilities.