James Comtois

Now that most corporate pensions are materially stronger than they were prior to the Global Financial Crisis, investors are arguing that these plans can afford to take on more return-seeking assets — specifically, equities. For many corporate plans, funded status has improved, asset allocations have long since been substantially de-risked, hedge ratios are higher, and pension liabilities are often smaller relative to the sponsoring company.

Quite a Fall: In a sign that fall has truly arrived, the elite university endowments have begun to release their annual figures. While they’re so far reporting…

After ignoring emerging markets for well over a decade, strong returns and concentration risk in U.S. markets are prompting large institutional investors to reassess the asset class. But allocators are still focused on specific countries and sectors, not emerging markets broadly.

Several changes within the real estate industry, from trade wars passing costs onto new construction to a lack of safety on government policies to rising cap rates, is leading institutional investors to rethink their real estate allocations, now that it's no longer seen as an inflation hedge.

As university endowments release record-breaking fiscal year returns, Chestnut Advisory Group’s Amanda Tepper raises a returning and confounding issue: while performance certainly matters, the one-year numbers aren’t the bellwether the industry treats them as.

Nominated For Two ACAs... Before we get into this week’s main topic, there are a couple of big allocator moves I want to share. Joshua Shannon has left the…

Hedge Against Those Soaring Costs: Since writing about healthcare systems relying on their long-term investment pools longer than expected, I’ve spoken with a…

As allocators continue to race into AI companies in emerging markets, entire industries are being overlooked, including financials, leaving plenty of available opportunities.

Is the Bubble Already Bursting? After SpaceX debuted at a $1.8 trillion valuation with AI giants OpenAI and Anthropic set to issue IPOs, many investors were…

Following new research from the University of Illinois arguing that its $3.3 billion endowment could have been nearly $800 million larger had its investments kept pace with benchmark returns, leaders of the independent University of Illinois Foundation that runs the portfolio are pushing back, contending that they have spent the past few years overhauling an outdated portfolio, and are starting to see encouraging results.