What we look for in our investment managers
We manage capital as an OCIO on behalf of hundreds of nonprofit organizations in the United States. Our member organizations play an essential role in their communities. Our investment partners are critically important to help us earn high real returns over time and thereby enable our members to further their missions.
Among the characteristics we value in an investment partner are curiosity and imagination, integrity, independent viewpoints and a repeatable competitive advantage. We strive to create partnership agreements with our managers that exhibit a careful alignment of interests between the managers, TIFF, our members, and our members’ constituents that can last for many years. Analytics provide insight, but, in our view, the assessment of a manager’s ethical standards, intellect, instincts, and judgment is crucial and takes time.
Why partner with TIFF
Since 1991, TIFF has partnered with investors of all ages. We’ve backed new managers in their mid-20s as well as experienced managers in their 70s. Some of our partners have spent their entire careers in the investment industry, while others have worked as physicians, economists, consultants, mathematicians, lawyers, and entrepreneurs before taking the plunge into investing. We are open-minded to the notion that the next Warren Buffett may not come from Omaha, and she may well come from Shenzhen, Stockholm, or Sydney.
If you are interested in partnering with TIFF, please complete the contact form below and consider answering the following two optional questions:
- What is your competitive advantage?
- How have you aligned your incentives with those of your limited partners?