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Is Your 401(k) Ready for Private Assets? A Look Beyond the Promise
photo credit: Ideogram As the landscape of retirement savings continues to evolve, new proposals and potential opportunities emerge, promising enhanced returns and greater diversification for plan participants. Recently, discussions in Washington, D.C. have centered on the possibility of allowing private assets to become a more accessible component of 401(k) plan lineups, either as standalone options…
Read MoreThe 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 MoreJune 2025
Summary Both stocks and bonds rallied in June, shrugging off geopolitical tensions and modest economic data. Emerging markets led the way, buoyed by continued dollar weakening, trailed closely by U.S. equities. Duration provided a tailwind for the month as rates fell across the yield curve and credit spreads held their levels. Equities U.S. stocks rose…
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 MoreMay 2025
Summary U.S. equities recovered nicely from the turmoil of April, and international and emerging stocks continued to shine in 2025. Bond returns were negative as Treasury rates crept higher in May. Credit spreads retraced much of April’s widening to return near historical tightening. The Federal Reserve maintained the status quo on policy interest rates in…
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 MoreApril 2025
Summary April 2025 tested global markets in ways that have not been felt since March of 2020. The stress kicked off on April 2 (Liberation Day) with President Trump’s global tariff announcement. His stated plan was to tax imports from every country in the world at a minimum of 10%, with some trading partners facing rates…
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…
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