The Investment Policy is set by the Grinnell College Board of Trustees with specific oversight by Exit 182 Group, LLC.
Consistent with the endowment’s objective is to support Grinnell College students, faculty, and staff in the present and the future, portfolio investments are well diversified across asset classes to enhance potential returns across a wider range of scenarios and reduce downside volatility. However, given a primary objective of maintaining real purchasing power over multi-year periods, the College expects that the endowment will maintain a bias toward equity investments (and asset classes with equity-like characteristics), which have higher long term expected returns, and lower exposure to asset classes offering fixed rates of return or current income. Further, the College believes that active management, which seeks to exploit market inefficiencies, can be additive to investment returns, particularly in nontraditional markets and strategies. Additionally, the Endowment’s long term investment horizon allows for the inclusion of illiquid asset classes and strategies that offer higher potential returns.
Recognizing the importance of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) factors and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DE&I) factors to the long-term financial performance of business enterprises, investments and investment managers are evaluated with consideration for ESG and DE&I risk, opportunity, and impact.