Study: Operating Charity Investment Returns Rise to an Average of 15.1 Percent in Fiscal Year 2013

Ninety-seven percent of Study participants reported having a policy for handling conflicts of interest, down one percentage point since last year's Study.

The average number of voting members on investment committees declined this year to 7.5 from last year's 8.1. The average number of investment committee members who are investment professionals was 4.9 versus 5.0 last year, while those with alternative strategies experience rose to 3.5 this year from 3.0a year ago.

Research Process and Methodology

The design of the Commonfund Benchmarks Study of Operating Charities took place in the winter of 2013. Field interviews with the participating institutions followed in the second and third calendar quarters of 2014.

Participating institutions were interviewed by two techniques: telephone interviews and an online instrument. The respondents were the individuals most knowledgeable about investment matters at participating institutions.

Data from the research population were segmented by type of institution-cultural, religious and social service organizations-and by size into organizations with assets over $500 million, institutions with assets between $101 million and $500 million, and institutions with assets under $101 million.