SURVEY OVERVIEW

KEY FINDINGS: MAKING AND EXECUTING INVESTMENT DECISIONS

• Seventy-six percent of respondents indicated that they are either “somewhat comfortable, but need help” or “very comfortable” making investment decisions. Endowments and foundations are more comfortable making decisions relative to the average respondent.

• The majority of respondents (65%) take less than three months to make a decision on asset allocation or manager changes. However, one-third of respondents take more than three months to make a decision, of which 11% take six months to a year.

• The largest impediments to delays in making decisions have been market volatility (26%) and not enough expertise (20%).

• 27% percent of respondents believe that they have missed investment opportunities due to the time it takes to make or implement investment decisions, a 6% increase from our 2010 survey. The percentage was higher for defined benefit plans at 31%.

• The majority of the respondents (44%) take about one to three months to execute an asset allocation or manager change. However, 21% take more than three months. These results are similar to responses from our 2010 survey.

• The largest impediments to delays in executing asset allocation/manager changes are insufficient staff (18%) and market volatility (15%).

STAFFING

• About half (51%) of respondents have one or no full-time person managing their investments, and 89% have no plans to change staffing levels in the next year.

• The majority of organizations have four to six people on their investment committee/board. This is especially true for organizations with under $50 million in assets, as 75% cited having four to six people.

ROLE OF OUTSOURCING

• About one-fifth (21%) of organizations have considered outsourcing in the past 12 months, while 13% are considering outsourcing in the next 12 months.

• 41% of respondents with assets below $500 million are considering outsourcing. Interestingly, 31% of organizations with assets in the $501 million to $1 billion range are also considering outsourcing.