Firms Launch Benchmarking Tool for Institutional Investors

The index is a benchmarking tool for investors in globally-diversified, multi-asset portfolios that include alternative investments. Calculated by Nasdaq OMX, it is an objective benchmark comprised of three major asset class building blocks: Global Equity, Global Fixed Income, and Alternatives which includes hedge funds, private equity and real assets.

The index is used for portfolio comparison, investment analysis, research and benchmarking purposes by fiduciaries such as trustees, portfolio managers, consultants and advisers to endowments, foundations, trusts, defined benefit/defined contribution plans, pension plans and individual investors. It is a total return index and all underlying components are comprised of exchange-traded funds (ETFs) or other investable securities.

“The proliferation of exchange-traded products and mutual funds that offer alternative strategies in liquid form is leading to the increasing adoption by investors outside of the institutional endowment universe,” says Prateek Mehrotra, Chief Investment Officer of Endowment Wealth Management, based in Appleton, Wisconsin. “Until now, they’ve had to use a proxy or a custom benchmark for those portfolios. The Endowment Index now provides an appropriate benchmarking solution for investors.”

The use of alternatives has broadened beyond endowments. Mehrotra cites recent studies by Barclays Prime Brokers, which estimate that use of liquid alternatives grew 43% to $137 billion in 2013, and that by 2018, assets in this space could stretch to between $650 and $950 billion.

Index data can be accessed through most major quote providers and websites under the symbol “ENDOW”. For more information, visit http://www.EndowmentIndex.com.

Endowment Wealth Management, Inc. is an independent private wealth management firm using a multi-client family office service model.

ETF Model Solutions, LLC, is third-party investment manager and ETF strategist that builds investment models for 401(k) plans, investment advisers within their practice, family offices, endowments, foundations, trusts, and individual investors.