Recent Publications

Decades of Data: Emerging Markets 1987–2022

The 2022 Emerging Markets edition of our annual report on the history of financial markets provides context for the range of returns investors can expect from equities, bonds, and cash; reveals the importance of various components of equity returns; examines the evidence for equity mean reversion; and reviews the relationship between initial valuations and subsequent returns for equities and bonds.

US Debt Ceiling Deal to Weigh Modestly on Already Weak Economic Growth Outlook

US President Joe Biden and House Speaker Kevin McCarthy finalized an agreement in principle to suspend the US debt ceiling through January 1, 2025. The agreement removes the possibility of an unprecedented default, provided it is signed into law, however it still modestly reduces expected government spending and will likely result in tighter near-term liquidity conditions. Taken together, the compromise slightly increases the risk of recession in the United States, which we already viewed as likely.

Streamlined Private Investing: Uncovering Growth in Secondaries

Over the years, as institutional investors have implemented newer and more dynamic private markets strategies in their portfolios in an effort to boost investment returns, they have also faced a timing conundrum. Secondaries have the potential to help address this challenge. We review their potential advantages and show how they can be broadly used as an effective portfolio management tool for investors of all types and sizes.

Seven Things Investors Should Know About the Private Equity Secondary Market

The private equity secondary market can offer investors efficiency and access that is unavailable elsewhere in the private investment universe. We believe partnering with a knowledgeable and experienced investment team is an important part of finding success within this dynamic and evolving asset class, and we answer seven key questions reviewing private equity secondary funds and their benefits.

US Real Estate Faces Challenges, But Opportunities Exist

Commercial real estate is not immune to economic cyclicality, and we think the sector will be challenged through an economic downturn. However, we think cyclical pressures will likely create opportunities in select sectors and advise investors to selectively invest in these areas to benefit from a rebound during the recovery.

The Business Cycle’s Impact on Asset Performance

Asset performance is highly sensitive to the global business cycle. In this chart book, we highlight the significant shifts in performance distributions across the global business cycle for major asset classes, including equity regions, styles, sectors as well as for fixed income, real asset and currencies. Ultimately, understanding the distributions of asset performance across business cycle stages and considering where the global economy is headed are key inputs in a rigorous investment decision-making framework.

Do Recent Central Bank Meetings Alter Our US Dollar Outlook?

No, we expect that while the US dollar should decline from its current elevated level over the medium term, there are factors that will continue to provide it with support in the short term. If our expectations are met, later this year or early next year should be an opportune time to consider positioning portfolios to benefit from a weaker dollar.

Endowment Spending Amid Record Inflation

Inflation is having a moment—driving up the costs of delivering the nonprofit mission and making it more challenging to maintain endowment purchasing power. This environment highlights the importance of endowment spending policies and their role in balancing near-term spending needs and intergenerational equity.

Monthly Publications

Tactical CA House Views

Highlights our latest portfolio advice and reviews notable data for over 50 asset classes/sub-strategies, with key charts and views from our asset class specialists. Read a short introduction →

View Individual Asset Class/Substrategy Views

Market Matters: May 31, 2023

Monthly review of market action with the key charts for the month and a snapshot of index performance in major currencies

Quarterly Publications

CA’s house view and advice, written by our Chief Investment Strategist, Celia Dallas

Summarizes asset allocation and total investment performance for over 400 of Cambridge Associates’ endowment and foundation clients

Hedge Fund Update: Fourth Quarter 2022

Insights from the leaders of our hedge fund research on what drove performance in the quarter

US Manager Universe Statistics: First Quarter 2023

Presents quarterly representative long-only and hedge fund manager performance.

Benchmark Commentary

Analysis of the performance shown in our private investment benchmarks