Over the last three years, a “quiet storm” has been reshaping the foundations of institutional portfolios. For Chief Investment Officers, the lesson is sobering: duration risk can be as dangerous as equity volatility, and ignoring it risks destabilizing entire portfolios.

In this report, we examine the macroeconomic backdrop of sticky inflation, a historically tight labor market, and higher-for-longer interest rates. We highlight the cautionary parallels to the banking sector’s 2023 failures, where unhedged rate exposure wiped out institutions once deemed stable, and extract the implications for large fiduciary investors.

The Modern Cycle is over. Falling rates and easy index-driven gains have given way to a new era: the Postmodern Cycle - where inflation, higher costs of capital, and widening dispersion redefine the playbook. In this market, alpha isn’t found in passive exposure, it’s earned through conviction, diversification, and strategic manager selection.

A deep analysis of market dynamics, grounded in a pioneering new modeling approach, fundamentally shifts the understanding of gold's role in investment portfolios. Traditionally considered a peripheral or opportunistic holding, gold has emerged as an essential ballast against volatility drag and a critical component of long-term portfolio insurance.

The first half of 2025 has revealed a private market in transition. Far from frozen, yet no longer frothy, venture capital and private equity are undergoing a great recalibration. Early-stage financings are proving resilient, late-stage valuations are correcting sharply, and liquidity is being actively engineered through secondaries, SPVs, and new structures. In The Great Recalibration, we explore these dynamics and lay out a framework for allocators and CIOs to navigate this selective, evolving environment.

Growth is slowing, inflation is proving stubborn, and yet mega-cap technology companies continue to drive the bulk of equity returns. At the same time, credit spreads remain tight even as default forecasts rise, and alternatives are emerging as critical sources of diversification and value. In this perspective, I explore what this “landscape of nuanced volatility” means for investors, from the risks of market concentration to the opportunities found in structural shifts like artificial intelligence, deglobalization, and private market liquidity solutions.

Venture capital is in a paradox: deal values are surging led by mega AI rounds yet most late-stage companies remain starved for funding. For endowments and foundations, this late-cycle, high-rate environment brings both abundant dry powder and persistent liquidity constraints. In this piece, I examine the macro backdrop, capital flows, valuation resets, and practical strategies for institutional allocators to balance patience, discipline, and liquidity in today’s bifurcated VC market.