Trustee Investment Strategy for Endowments and Foundations
Chapter One
Introduction
An investment in knowledge always pays the best interest.
Benjamin Franklin (1706-1790)
Endowments and foundations are entities that have been given assets to generate a return to
support some purpose. Each endowment entity is unique in terms of its needs and financial
resources, which implies that each endowment must have a unique investment strategy.
The largest pools of non-profit endowment assets today are to be found in the USA, representing
educational, social, cultural, political and religious organizations such as museums,
hospitals, orchestras, religious, universities and colleges and charities. The Giving USA Foundation
estimates that Americans gave some $248.5 billion to charity in 2004, an amount
approximately equal to the national incomes of Norway or Indonesia. The largest foundation
was that of Bill and Melinda Gates with assets at the end of 2004 just short of $29 billion.
The largest financial endowment of a ... read full excerpt from Trustee Investment Strategy for Endowments and Foundations ebook
