What an Endowment Investment Committee Actually Does

Adapted for endowment and foundation boards from Chapter 8 of The Single Family Office by Richard C. Wilson.

An investment committee is a small group that oversees how the endowment is invested. That sounds obvious. In practice, committees vary a lot in size, how often they meet and how hard they push.

When I wrote about family office committees, I listed the core jobs. They line up almost exactly with what an endowment committee should own.

The five core jobs

  1. Make strategic decisions. Asset allocation targets and ranges, liquidity rules, spending support.
  2. Select or approve managers. Either directly or by approving staff and adviser picks.
  3. Oversee portfolio construction and risk. How the pieces fit together and what could go wrong.
  4. Protect capital over the long run. An endowment is meant to last. The committee is the guardian of that.
  5. Carry out the investment policy. The board adopts the policy. The committee makes sure it is followed.

What it should not do

A committee should not be the first stop for every pitch. In the book I made the point that someone, an analyst, a staff member or the outsourced CIO, should screen opportunities first. Otherwise meetings get buried in deal flow and nothing important gets decided.

Two kinds of committees

From the family offices I have seen, there are two very different kinds.

  • The audit committee in disguise. It meets each quarter, hears a report and asks whether things are still on track. Little strategy gets discussed.
  • The working committee. It meets more often, goes through positions and debates what to change.

Neither is wrong. But the committee should know which one it is meant to be. An endowment with a strong outsourced CIO may only need the first. An endowment running its own manager book needs the second.

A simple test

At your next meeting, count the minutes spent on reporting versus decisions. If 50 of 60 minutes are a performance review, the committee may be doing oversight without strategy. Is that what your board intended?

Frequently asked questions

Who sets the investment policy, the board or the committee?

Usually the full board adopts it and the committee recommends changes and carries it out. Check your bylaws.

Should the committee approve every manager?

Depends on your setup. Some delegate manager picks to staff or an OCIO inside set limits.

How often should the committee meet?

Many meet quarterly. Committees running their own manager book often meet more.

Sources

  1. The Single Family Office, Chapter 8, Richard C. Wilson .

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