Insight
The E&F Advocate: Now a Law – The One Big Beautiful Bill Implications for Endowments & Foundations
The recently passed “One Big Beautiful Bill” (OBBB) represents the most consequential legislative package for U.S. endowments and foundations in over a decade. While sweeping in scope, its most significant implications for our community fall into three categories: tax reform, climate and infrastructure capital, and university governance provisions. Tax Code Overhaul: Pressures on Investment…
Read MoreGlide Path 2025: Does Heightened Market Volatility Require a Change in Strategy?
Photo credit: Unsplash Highland addressed this topic in 2023, reflecting on the previous year’s challenges and the looming threat of a recession. While the financial landscape has evolved, certain concerns persist. However, the dominant force shaping market volatility in 2025 has been policy shifts, primarily from the new administration, with less emphasis on monetary and…
Read MoreThe E&F Advocate: Impact of H.R.1 OBBBA on Endowments and Foundations
H.R.1 OBBBA will cause significant changes to endowment and foundation taxes in terms of a transition from flat to tiered tax rates, with various potential implications and impacts for universities and foundations. University Endowments The current flat 1.4% excise tax on net investment income for private colleges and universities would shift to a tiered…
Read MoreThe Plan Is There for the Hard Days
photo credit: Getty images for unsplash “I give myself good advice, but very seldom follow it.” …
Read MoreThe E&F Advocate: Endowment Turbulence – A Crisis at the Crosswinds of Politics, Policy, and Portfolio Strategy
photo credit: ideogram.ai Back in calmer times, larger endowments operated with seeming invisibility—quietly compounding capital over decades, shielded from public glare. Fast forward to today, these capital pools sit squarely in the eye of a brewing political and financial storm. Harvard, Yale, Princeton, and Columbia—once synonymous with strategic patience and long-termism—are now recalibrating rapidly. The…
Read MoreThe E&F Advocate: Key Takeaways on Proposed Endowment Tax Changes
photo credit: ideogram.ai The proposed endowment tax changes aim to increase the current 1.4% excise tax on net investment income of certain private colleges and universities to rates as high as 21% or more. Additionally, there are proposals to broaden the tax’s applicability by lowering the endowment assets per student threshold from $500,000 to…
Read MoreA Perspective on 2025 Tariffs
Photo credit: unsplash Why Tariffs to Restore Trade Balances Won’t Always Lead to a 1:1 Price Increase for Consumers, and Shouldn’t Throw Your Strategies Off Balance There’s a widespread assumption that tariffs—taxes on imported goods – automatically result in a direct, 1:1 price increase for consumers, meaning a 25% tariff would raise prices by 25%…
Read MoreThe E&F Advocate: A New Series from Highland Consulting Associates
In an ever-changing financial landscape, endowments and foundations (E&F) face numerous challenges and opportunities that require informed decision-making and strategic planning. As these organizations navigate complex issues surrounding governance, investment strategies, policy shifts, and tax implications, it’s crucial to stay ahead of emerging trends and evolving best practices. For this reason, we’re excited to launch…
Read MoreThe E&F Advocate: Five Pillars of Endowment Governance to Support Greater Liquidity, Transparency and Returns
Photo credit: Dreamstime The “Yale Model” of endowment investment strategy created by David Swenson, successful for decades, may be nearing retirement. What was developed during a time of falling interest rates, less asset class ubiquity, and diminished premiums for exotics, may be a far less tenable model in 2025. Models like Yale’s with their reliance…
Read MoreMake Your Own Luck: Navigating Pension Risks in a World of Terminations
Photo credit: Dreamstime The legal drama “Suits” follows the lives of ambitious lawyers at a prestigious New York City firm. If you’ve not seen it, at the heart of the series is Harvey Specter, a successful senior partner known for his arrogance and ruthless ambition. A master in the courtroom, Harvey outmaneuvers opponents with his…
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