Endowments and Foundations Investment Survey 2025 

Endowment and foundation (E&F) investors have elevated concerns around the short-term risks presented by inflation, ongoing market volatility and evolving geopolitical risks. Below are some of the highlights from the report:

• Volatility remains the dominant concern – 83% of E&Fs see market volatility as a significant short-term risk, up 10 points from 2023.
• Politics moves to the forefront – 82% now view domestic and international politics as major risks, reflecting growing awareness of the policy-market link.
• Climate risk is slipping down the agenda – only 41% now consider it significant, a notable drop from 54% last year, especially among North American investors.
• Diversification may be the leading defence – 56% have broadened portfolio diversification, and 32% have added or expanded private markets exposure.
• Spending pressures are rising – nearly four in ten organizations expect spending targets to increase over the next three years, intensifying the need for sustainable returns.

Endowment and foundation (E&F) investors look to diversification as a – if not the – core component to drive growth across portfolios over the long-term. Below are some of the highlights from the report:

• Private markets remain important – allocations to private equity (+26%) and private debt (+24%) are expected to see the largest net increases over the next three years, extending a three-year trend of rising exposure across private markets.
• Scale can potentially drive access and ambition – larger organizations anticipate a 50% rise in private equity exposure (versus 11% among smaller peers), underscoring how size enables deeper participation in illiquid assets.
• Equity exposure is tilting global – investors favor international developed market equities (+9%), while investment in domestic equities (-5%) is expected to fall, reflecting a move away from the home bias.
• Infrastructure is gaining traction – with an expected 14% net increase, organizations are positioning to capture long-term themes such as AI, energy transition, and digital infrastructure.
• Regional divergences are widening – European investors plan larger increases to private equity (+37%) and infrastructure, while North American organizations lean towards private debt (+33%) and already hold higher private equity exposure.

Endowment and foundation (E&F) investors continue to drive forward the push into private markets^[2] as they navigate near-term uncertainty to increase private market allocations. Below are some of the highlights from the report:

• Private markets have matured, especially among larger investors – two-thirds of large E&Fs have been investing in private markets for five years or more, compared with only 10% of smaller organizations, highlighting experience and scale as key differentiators.
• Sophisticated strategies are reshaping portfolio construction – larger organizations are more likely to use co-investments and secondaries, which help mitigate the J-curve, potentially enhance diversification, and may provide greater portfolio control.
• Comfort with illiquidity is high – despite market chatter, 72% of investors believe they’ve been adequately compensated for illiquidity risk, and 78% are comfortable with commitments lasting 10 years or more, a sign of confidence in long-term positioning.
• Smaller organizations lean on outsourcing – 43% of smaller investors outsource private markets management (versus 18% of large ones), reflecting resource constraints and the growing complexity of accessing robust opportunities.
• Hedge funds have shifted from offense to defence – nearly half of investors (45%) now use hedge funds primarily for risk reduction, not growth, signalling a pivot towards multi-strategy and defensive mandates amid higher volatility and weaker equity–bond diversification.