Our Approach

Sophisticated institutional investing for the long term

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Tailored solutions

We build long-term, risk-appropriate portfolios for institutions that are tailored to each client's specific goals, risk tolerances, liquidity requirements, and strategic plans. Portfolios are populated with exposure to traditional and alternative investment opportunities that are generally unavailable to conventional investment firms and capital allocators. We source and underwrite those relationships through our differentiated networks and our extensive experience in the leading endowment community.

We also look to build a deep foundation of trust and integration with clients, supporting board governance, capital planning, advancement strategy, and other institutional needs, as if we were their in-house team.

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Boutique size and deep partnership

We believe our firm has the resources to compete with large endowments but is small enough to engage deeply with clients and their key stakeholders. We pride ourselves on our approachability, responsiveness, candor, and collegiality.

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Custom portfolios aligned with your goals1

Portfolios are designed to meet our clients’ needs, not ours. We tailor sophisticated solutions that address a broad range of investment goals, from total-portfolio solutions to alternative investment and impact-focused strategies.

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The resources and expertise of a leading investment office

Our experienced leadership team has decades of experience working for and partnering with leading endowments, foundations, private equity, hedge funds, and family offices. We understand the unique growth, resourcing, and liquidity challenges institutions face, and how to manage them.

Our approach to OCIO: Holistic partnership

Managing a large, multi-asset portfolio can be an uphill battle for many organizations. Limited resources, competing priorities, and committee-led decision-making can stand in the way of timely, effective portfolio management. Since 2007, endowments and foundations have partnered with GEM as a leading Outsourced Chief Investment Office (OCIO) to manage their investment and governance needs. We bring the sophistication, discipline, and experience of endowment investing to our clients, freeing them to focus on their missions.

We believe a partnership is only as effective as the foundation it’s built on. We collaborate with our clients’ boards, finance teams, and other stakeholders to gain a deep appreciation of the organization’s outsourcing needs through a holistic enterprise assessment and candid conversation. A comprehensive investment program is constructed from this alignment, with investment policy guidance, risk modeling, daily portfolio oversight, tailored governance insight, administrative support, and more.

Investment solutions

We aim to translate our clients’ return goals, spending needs, and risk tolerance into an appropriate portfolio structure, then leverage our extensive networks and endowment experience to source and underwrite compelling manager and investment opportunities across asset classes. We use diversified custom and commingled structures to help ensure efficiency, fairness, and alignment across our clients. Both multi-asset and asset class-specific portfolios are built using a single, rigorous investment process.

How we invest

We seek to generate long-term, real returns3 that support organizations’ spending needs today and grow value for future generations.

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Recent Insights

GEM 2024 Outlook: The Big Debates

In our 2024 Outlook, we outline four current issues that are impacting portfolios and offer our views on how these questions might influence our allocation strategy and the broader economic landscape.

Leading by example: How one foundation mobilized its assets to advance diversity and equity

The 16th oldest community foundation in the United States, the Winston-Salem Foundation partners with individuals and organizations to improve the quality of life in Forsyth County and beyond.

Global Endowment Management Named A "Best Place To Work In Money Management" By Pensions & Investments

We are proud to announce that the firm has been recognized as a 2023 Best Place to Work in Money Management by Pensions & Investments.

Connect with us

Let’s start a conversation about how we can help.

1 Customization is not available in a pooled, GEM–managed investment fund and would require the investor to invest through a fund-of-one structure, which has a higher expense load.

2 Returns are not guaranteed.

3 Returns that take inflation into account.