Recently Alliance magazine published a special issue that provides an inside perspective in the world of philanthropic investments, and I participated in a webinar organised by Alliance, that dealt with issues of transparency regarding the investment side and of orthodoxy’s around philanthropic investments.

It inspired me to think about popular beliefs with respect to endowment management and the use of investment strategies in philanthropic spending. Both could be challenged and deserve it to be challenged. In my work with foundations I see conventional wisdoms and also new trends that should not be taken for granted but require some reflection and possibly even demystification. Let me mention three different issues, foundations should address in relation to their endowment management and the use of investment tools on the spending side.

  • The first issue is the orthodoxy of perpetuity. 
  • The second issue is to ‘avoid the behaviour of lemmings’.
  • The third issue is ‘don’t push innovative instruments down the throat of your grantees’.

Read the full article about foundation investments by Rien Van Gendt at Alliance Magazine.