I recently attended ConsortiumEAST 2017: Connecting Institutional Investors, Emerging and Diverse Managers in New York, organized by RG and Associates.
This well-organized event featured sessions including the following:
Fireside Chat – Doing Away with Groupthink
Key takeaways included:
- The philosophy that diversity adds value has to be at the core of an organization.
- You need partners in the industry to support this effort.
- How you spend your dollars can also support your philosophy – giving back to local communities via philanthropy, using your investments to influence boards via proxies, etc.
- Summer internship programs can be a great way to add diversity –improving the ratio of women and minorities in investment management needs to begin at the entry level.
Mighty Moves – Bold Changes in the Alternative Investment Arena
Topics discussed included:
- What is the endowment model now? What is the “Yale model”? Is it alternatives, manager selection, or…?
- The need for a certain level of autonomy to make tough decisions
- Today’s challenging environment given high valuations and difficulty in deploying capital in alternatives
- The shift out of hedge funds, use of futures and options, and investing in private equity vis-a-vis cash
Evolved EM Models – New Frameworks for Investing in Next-Generation and Diverse Managers
The main topic of discussion was investing with minority- and women-owned firms – the current situation and a look to the future.
For more information about the event, see: http://www.rgaevents.com/consortiumeast/highlights/
Callan Connects, launched in 2010, helps us expand our universe of emerging managers (less than $3 billion in assets under management) and firms that are minority-, women-, or disabled-owned (MWDO). Each quarter we designate a day to meet with emerging managers and MWDO firms (less than $10 billion AUM) in various cities around the U.S. in order to make it more convenient for these firms to talk with our consultants. Firms may also contact us to request a meeting. Prior to meeting with us, we encourage firms to complete our investment manager questionnaire to ensure consideration in our searches. There is no fee to be included in our database.
