Crewcial’s investment philosophy recognizes that accelerating philanthropic impact demands highly effective investment outcomes. The Crewcial philosophy sets our clients up for success by getting to know them and their needs to ensure we’re building custom portfolios that fit each unique situation.
Above all, we believe that portfolios should be built according to the risk tolerance, spending policy, and investment biases of each client. Our approach is guided by a long-term focus and the principle that portfolios should balance concentrated, high-return investments with passive and traditional strategies.
Crewcial maintains a diverse investment team who performs comprehensive research as part of our highly selective manager review process. Our research team has deep experience in global public and private assets, across every developed and emerging economy in the world.
Our manager selection process enables us to provide access to limited capacity managers in niche investments who have an edge related to experience, depth of research, and time horizons. We place particular focus on limited capacity, high conviction, and concentrated managers able to identify valuation inefficiencies as a means of our ability to generate returns at the manager level.
The combination of our risk-adjusted long-term approach, plus selecting managers with conviction generates investment outcomes that meet our clients’ needs and allows them to stay the course with confidence.
As your investment partner, we work with the Investment Committee to develop an appropriate Asset Allocation framework, approved by the Investment Committee. This becomes our joint playbook and specifies allocation bands that provide guard rails for Committee decision making for moments of uncertainty. This playbook helps clients refrain from the temptation to time the market, and over time, we can help you capitalize on your investment goals by having your portfolio maintain exposure to the asset classes in your allocation framework and increase exposure to parts that are undervalued.
Crewcial Partners is committed to building long-term, optimal investment strategies for our institutional clients.
Since its founding in 1980, Crewcial Partners has provided comprehensive advisory services to endowments, foundations, and other not-for-profit organizations.
We believe our approach facilitates optimal portfolio performance and offers flexibility to meet the diverse needs of our clients. Crewcial has deep experience in supporting the portfolio requirements and challenges inherent to your investment journey.
Crewcial Partners is committed to helping our clients define and implement the optimal governance (non-discretion or OCIO) structure for their unique situations.
Crewcial Partners’ approach to asset allocation and manager selection is the same across the different governance models. With either a non-discretionary or OCIO mandate, Crewcial will work with your investment committee to develop an investment policy statement (including a strategic asset allocation) to be reviewed and approved by the board. The same teams (Investment, Performance, etc.) are equally committed to both governance mandates across our firm.
Our asset-allocation process starts with earning your trust by getting to know you and you getting to know us and our approach. We have a conversation with the Investment Committee where we listen and learn your specific risk tolerances, liquidity requirements, spending policies and other unique investment requirements such as ESG and DEI. This understanding provides the foundation from which Crewcial develops asset allocation recommendations.
We help clients develop a differentiated, strategic asset allocation framework that serves as the Playbook for Crewcial and the Investment Committee. This process is designed so clients can achieve their investment goals while maintaining their requirements. We use tools such as our proprietary model that our investment team designed to estimate 10-year forward looking returns based on 25 asset classes among other models to give you multiple portfolio options. This enables us to work together to achieve the right customized allocation for you. This graphic illustrates our thought process and how we start with equities that are the highest allocation, then we look for under-valued assets across geographies and styles and finish by incorporating private assets that require illiquidity.
Best-performng liquid asset class over long-term periods.
Considering where to invest across geographies and styles.
Investing with lock-up as an alpha generator and diversifier.
Our high level asset classes cover:
In accordance with our investment philosophy, we follow a differentiated asset-allocation approach that has a consistent focus on valuation. Our analysis and research help us identify pockets of under-valued investments globally. This enables us to focus on returns over a ten-year rolling period to achieve client performance goals and help ensure the perpetuity of your mission.
We combine our differentiated asset allocation and manager selection approaches with a long-term focus. Utilizing both passive and active strategies through the lens of valuation provides a strong foundation for exceptional returns.This has been the driving force in our ability to support our clients’ goals.
We include our clients’ investment recommendations and ideas, giving them the full benefit of our rigorous due diligence process. Over forty years of applying this principle has expanded our knowledge base, network, and proficiency as an advisor.
Crewcial views the asset allocation framework as the lattice underlying the structure of the portfolio. From this foundation, Crewcial determines the optimal design for the portfolio in terms of meeting its return objective for a given level of risk. This structure improves the likelihood that a portfolio can achieve its objectives and operate under a wide range of market conditions. A grounded, long-term strategy means Crewicial and the Investment Committee can focus on longer term objectives and opportunities for the portfolio. Last but not least, we thoughtfully rebalance to take advantage of the cyclicality of the financial markets. We never take our eye off the ball when it comes to maintaining the right allocation.
Crewcial OCIO services seamlessly blend your investment portfolio construction and implementation, customized to the needs and objectives with our steady guidance.
Since its founding in 1980, Crewcial Partners has provided advisory services to endowments, foundations, and other not-for-profit organizations. As institutional investing has become increasingly complex, Crewcial has developed extensive services to meet the needs of each unique client.
In 2018, we began offering Crewcial’s services on a discretionary basis to meet the growing needs of investment expertise and the need for constant portfolio oversight.
Crewcial Partners’ OCIO solutions are entirely customized to our clients’ needs. Crewcial works closely with clients, taking into account the investment statement policy, and our clients’ best ideas. We welcome input from your Investment Committee regarding strategic asset mix, policy mandates regarding lock-up vehicles, manager-fee structures, and veto power over individual managers, along with any other issues of importance to your mission.
Crewcial provides access to approved managers and an experienced research team covering all asset classes. Visit our Manager Research page for information on our research expertise.
Crewcial takes ownership of manager selection/replacement, rebalancing, and raising cash as needed within the guidelines of our approved investment policy statement to govern the management of your customized portfolio. We provide ongoing, specialized attention in the form of monthly investment consultant-led review of client portfolios.
Crewcial provides high-touch, client-specific, custom reports on a monthly and quarterly basis. We offer all clients an annual review of asset-allocation.
Crewcial is flexible regarding your optimal governance option. We have clients who have veto power over some investments, and we have OCIO clients where the Investment Committee maintains discretion over certain asset classes in their portfolio. We engage with our clients and actively seek a governance structure that aligns with their mission.
Our Investment Coordination team removes administrative burden from your staff, by using a power-of-attorney overlay to execute investment manager contracts and instruct custodians and managers alike on the necessary transfers of capital. With Crewcial taking saves time and budget as it alleviates paperwork responsibilities of your staff.
Crewcial offers a bespoke CIO model that allows clients to own the relationship directly with the managers even when they are in Crewcial’s OCIO portfolio. This avoids locking up assets at the consultant level that may come with other CIO options.
Our CIO arrangement gives clients the ability to take advantage of limited capacity managers with a short time horizon. We work from your Investment Committee-approved asset allocation framework and have a constant pulse on opportunities in your portfolio to execute when an opportunity arises.
Our OCIO offering is laser focused on implementing an asset allocation that reflects your risk profile and investment requirements with our best possible ideas and carefully selected managers that result from our expert manager research process. Your mission matters to us.
Crewcial’s interests align with our clients’ interests. We do everything possible to ensure clients always come first. We are a fiduciary in every client relationship. To maintain alignment, we derive 100% of our revenue from investment advisory services.
Crewcial’s CIO and Consultants provide the investment expertise
necessary to manage your portfolio. You have the flexibility to include, committee members with various backgrounds that will benefit your total responsibilities and overall mission.
Crewcial assumes responsibility for paperwork and execution of the portfolio that would otherwise be handled by your organization’s staff. This can pertain to transitions, communication with custodians and other items. This frees up time and budget for other organizational needs.
An outsourced CIO relationship with Crewcial can help Investment Committees overcome the growing challenges they face, and they can rest well knowing they have taken the right steps to grow their funds to support their missions into perpetuity.
Some challenges we see our clients facing include investment committee member changes, multiple donor advised pools with stringent requirements, and more complex private vehicles that need to be included to optimize performance and at the same time require special expertise to execute correctly. As more and more investment options become available, Investment Committees are relying heavier on their partners like Crewcial to ensure they make the best decisions for their situations and have come to trust that when we’re in control of timing, they reap the opportunities available to them.
If you’re debating about making the move from non-discretionary to OCIO, we’d be delighted to help guide you through the decision-making process to determine what’s right for your organization.
Investment Expertise To Help You Make A Difference
Crewcial Partners LLC is a Securities and Exchange Commission registered investment advisor. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any securities. Past performance is not indicative of future results, and investments involve risk and are not guaranteed. Be sure to first consult with a qualified financial adviser and/or tax professional before implementing any strategy discussed here.