2018 Investment Forum for Foundations and Endowments

Join leaders of private foundations and endowed non-profits for CNJG’s 3rd biennial Investment Forum for Foundations and Endowments at The Palace at Somerset Park. You’ll gain rare access to leading asset managers, financial service institutions, professional advisors and practitioners who will share best practices and valuable insights focused on successful endowment management. Keynote speeches and interactive workshop sessions will explore a wide range of timely and useful topics, including portfolio construction, the basics of endowment investing, selecting and managing an investment consultant, alternative investing, best practices for rebalancing a portfolio’s asset allocation, setting a spending policy that meets endowment objectives, the evolution of ETFs, evaluating endowment investment risk, market outlook, policies and practices for governing a corpus, understanding the cost of investments, effective approaches to small endowment stewardship, and the role of socially responsible investments in an endowment portfolio.

Sustainable philanthropy thrives on careful stewardship of the corpus. This biennial signature event grew out of the Council of New Jersey Grantmakers’ Finance and Investment Affinity Group convenings, which have long offered CFO’s, investment committee members, board chairs and others with oversight of their endowment, exposure to a wide range of representatives and perspectives from the investment community.

AGENDA

8:30 a.m. – 4:30 p.m.  SPONSOR MARKETPLACE
Visit with experts throughout the day for conversation and complimentary materials

8:30 a.m. - 9:15 a.m.  NETWORKING BREAKFAST & REGISTRATION

9:15 a.m. - 10:15 a.m.  OPENING PLENARY
Keynote Speaker:  Kim Y. Lew (Bio), Vice President and Chief Investment Officer, Carnegie Corporation of New York

10:30 a.m. – 11:20 a.m.  CONCURRENT MORNING SESSIONS I

• The Basics of Endowment Investing and Portfolio Construction (Beginner)
  Know the choices you face and how to get help
• Choosing the Right Approach for Managing the Corpus (Intermediate)
  CIO, portfolio manager, consultant or committee – what model is best for your organization?
• Alternative Investments: Are They Right for Your Organization’s Portfolio? (Intermediate)
  Keep up to date on the pros and cons of ever-changing options
• From Passive to Active Investing: The Evolution of ETFs (Intermediate/Advanced)
  The more you know, the better the results 

11:30 a.m. – 12:20 p.m.  CONCURRENT MORNING SESSIONS II

• Best Practices for Rebalancing Portfolio Asset Allocations (Beginner)
  What was right yesterday might be wrong tomorrow — the importance of reviewing strategy to align with organizational objectives
• Setting a Spending Policy to Meet Your Organization’s Objectives (Geared Toward Nonprofits)
  Where mission meets money -- the delicate art of balancing immediate spending needs and long -term endowment sustainability...and the law that governs these choices 
• Socially Responsible Investments & Impact Investing (Advanced)
  Strategies that directly deliver against mission 
• A Framework for Evaluating Your Endowment’s Investment Risk (Intermediate)
  How to assess your portfolio’s risk and avoid a dangerous guessing game

12:30 p.m. - 2:15 p.m.  LUNCHEON PLENARY
Market Outlook: Managing Your Portfolio Today for the Long-Term
Moderated by: Michael Griffin, Managing Director and Senior Investment Specialist, J.P. Morgan

2:30 p.m. – 3:20 p.m.  CONCURRENT AFTERNOON SESSIONS

• Governing Your Corpus: From Policies to Practices (Beginner)
  Fiduciary responsibilities, detecting fraud, and other duties need not be intimidating
• Understanding the Cost of Investments: Negotiating and Tracking Management Fees (Intermediate)
  Make sure you’re getting a deal as good as it looks
• Effective Approaches to Small Endowment Stewardship (Beginner/Intermediate)
  Size doesn’t matter when it comes to best practices
• A Primer on Cryptocurrency (Beginner/Intermediate/Advanced)
  Learn about the disruptive potential of Blockchain Technology

3:30 p.m. - 4:30 p.m.  CLOSING RECEPTION

CNJG sincerely thanks our 2018 Investment Forum Sponsors: J.P. Morgan Chase & Co. – Signature Investor Sponsor; UBS Financial Services Inc. – Partner Sponsor; Glenmede, PNC Institutional Asset Management, and Seelaus Asset Management – Host Sponsors; PFM Asset Management LLC – Strategist Sponsor; BlackRock, PKF O’Connor Davies, Fiduciary Investment Advisors LLC, Northern Trust, RegentAtlantic, and Neuberger Berman – Expert Sponsors; and Wells Fargo, Massey Quick Simon, Goldman Sachs, and Peapack-Gladstone Bank – Advisor Sponsors.

Investment Forum Photos

Articles of Interest
Crypto Craze Finds Few Fans at Endowments. Maybe Not For Long
Foundations Lose Out When They Try to Beat Market Indexes, Research Shows (paid subscription required)
Charities take Digital Money Now – and the risks that go with it