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Foundations Endowments

Foundations Endowments

Foundations and endowments

Passion. Drive. Consistency. Discipline. Governance.

If this describes your organization, let’s share our vision. Together, we can address your organization’s evolving and complex needs.

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Listening intently. Asking critical questions. And offering guidance in a way that’s transparent, proactive, and genuine. You’ll benefit from our:

What sets us apart

Deep not-for-profit expertise

Deep not-for-profit expertise

More than a century of success serving not-for-profits

Proactive collaboration

Proactive collaboration

Exceptional service and essential tools that improve governance and performance

Tailored advisory and administrative solutions

Tailored advisory and administrative solutions

Independent, conflict-free fiduciary investment advice in a disciplined and consistent manner

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ARMOND

We recognize that every not-for-profit we work with is unique—whether it's their financial needs, whether it’s their donor base—and we realize that the solution we provide has to be customized to meet their specific needs.

 

MIKE

The single most important thing that a not-for-profit organization can do is accumulate the assets that allows them to fulfill their mission.

 

LAURA

It's making sure that the funds are there and growing to support the needs of the organizations that we serve.

 

ELIZABETH

We provide top-tier investment management services, but we marry that with world-class administrative support and a specialization in not-for-profit management.

 

LAURA

The administrative support that we provide our clients is incredibly important and a true value add, especially for organizations that have little or no staff. The administrative support of investment accounts can be complex. We offer a variety of specialized reports, fund accounting, gift clearing services, and also planned giving support, to help shoulder some of the administrative burden so that our clients can really focus on their mission.

 

MIKE

One of the benefits working with Truist is the experience of our team. I've had the privilege to work alongside some of the best minds in investments now for almost 20 years. As we were building the practice, we took the very best of the independent consulting models, right? That objectivity, deep analytics and research, customized reporting, and combined that with the experience of our team: a rich history of managing institutional portfolios on behalf of our clients.

 

LAURA

We spend a lot of time getting to know our clients, understanding the challenges that they're experiencing, where they are in the life cycle of their organization. And making sure to tailor the thought-leadership materials that we have to address some of those challenges that they're experiencing.

ARMOND

What makes our thought leadership impactful to our clients is the fact that we base our thought leadership off real-world scenarios. We're fortunate enough to work with the health care organization that focuses on the prevention of lung diseases. And when teaming up with this organization, they expressed some concerns about the names that were in their portfolio because they wanted to ensure that they were not invested or holding any securities in their portfolio that was detrimental to the air quality. So we really spent time with them screening their portfolio and helping them understand really the pros and cons of pursuing a socially responsible investing strategy, where you exclude certain securities, or running environmental social-governance screen, where you reweight the portfolio. And through conversation, advice, and counsel, we really sat down and really educated them to help them understand which route we thought was best for them to pursue. We made the decision on pursuing an environmental social-governance strategy.

And it has really worked out for that client. They've been extremely happy. They're not focusing on securities that are detrimental to the air quality, and their portfolio is more aligned with their mission.

LAURA

We don't just work for nonprofits, we work in nonprofits. Many of us volunteer in our free time, and the majority of the teammates in the specialty practice serve in leadership roles in organizations in their own communities. It's important that we live and breathe this work and our personal and professional lives, which I think adds a lens to our experience that we bring to bear on client relationships, because we are often sitting on the same side of the table as you are.

ELIZABETH

We bring together the power of team best thinking so that we can evaluate new investment concepts and ideas from a 360-degree perspective, and ensure that we make good, quality, sustainable decisions on behalf of our clients, so they can be successful for years to come.

MIKE

The reason clients continue to choose Truist is because of our customized approach. And we've chosen a customized approach because many of our competitors ask clients to conform to their preferences, not what's best for the client.

ELIZABETH

When thinking about the future of Truist Foundation and Endowment Practice, I'm really struck by the importance of private philanthropy in helping improve the social fabric of our country.

We're excited to play a role in making all of our communities stronger, and we see no limits, really, in terms of growth we have available to us because there's always going to be need.

We're here to meet it, and we're excited about the contributions that we're able to help our clients make in their respective communities.

LAURA

The mission of Truist to build better lives and communities aligns with our partners, and it's important that we are a partner with them to help provide resources, support, to build up the communities around our country. We're so proud of the work that we do, we’re passionate about this work, and we are thrilled to be partnered with organizations that have such a meaningful impact in our world.

Foundations and endowments specialty practice

What sets our specialty practice apart? In addition to top-tier investment management services and world class administrative support, it’s our mindset. We don’t just work for not-for-profits—we work in not-for-profits.

Our customized approach is a big reason why our clients continue to choose Truist. Learn why we’re so passionate about this work from the people who make it happen.

Who we serve

We’re a specialty practice dedicated to delivering insightful, strategic investment and administrative expertise to:

  • Private, independent and community foundations
  • Colleges and universities
  • K-12 independent schools
  • Human service agencies
  • Member and industry associations
  • Cultural institutions
  • Religious institutions
  • Healthcare institutions, senior centers and not-for-profit hospitals

We want to see your organization succeed. We’re here to support your goals—through long-term, sustainable growth strategies. Think of us as an extension of your team.

Dedicated to amplifying your impact

Invest with purpose.

The work you do every day demands a laser-sharp focus on achieving long-term, sustainable investment results. Your investment strategy deserves the same kind of focus. 

Consider these key questions:

  • What are your organization’s short- and long-term objectives? What role will the investment portfolio need to play in funding them?
  • How will your spending policy impact your investment portfolio?
  • What is your organization’s ability to tolerate market volatility?

Your responses will impact your portfolio’s goals, of course. But they’ll also provide some insight into your cash flow, liquidity, and capital needs.

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ARMOND

A client can benefit from a diverse team of advisors because each member of that team has a different perspective. They all did not grow up in the same neighborhood or either attend the same colleges and universities. So they look at the world differently, as well as the portfolios they construct. So having that truly benefits the client, particularly when you're identifying asset allocations and managers, and in determining what's the appropriate solution for that client.

 

ELIZABETH

In terms of finding and retaining diverse managers in your portfolio, there are really two ways to go about it. One is a top-down perspective, where you set out a goal in your investment policy statement of wanting X percent in diverse or minority-owned managers. And then you go out and you seek managers to fill those mandates and target that percentage.

 

ELIZABETH

The other way, which we actually think is more organic, is by being very intentional in your managers' screening process and looking for highly talented managers, managers who can add value over multiple market cycles and identify them and bring them into the portfolio, from a purely organic sense, to add to portfolio returns.

 

ELIZABETH

When we think about diverse teams of advisors, we really want to think about the composition of our client boards and investment committees. And by having a wealth of resources and background on our teams, we were able to establish meaningful dialogue with investment committee members, investment committee leadership, as well as identify opportunities for the portfolio. If we all look the same, if we all have the same background, we simply wouldn't be able to appreciate the experience of our committee members, the impacts that could have on their decision process, or in fact, their ability to amplify their mission in their respective communities.

 

ARMOND

A diverse team of advisors bring together a different perspective. The way they view portfolio construction will help achieve sources of returns that may not always be available if you're all driving in the same lane, looking at the world in the same way.

 

ELIZABETH

A particular client we have wanted us to seek out a diverse manager in a number of different asset classes, particularly equities. We were able to do a survey of management firms in whose strategies we had a great deal of confidence, and we identified one manager in a non-liquid asset class who had been very, very successful in terms of their portfolio returns. They had been so successful, in fact, that the strategy was now closed because they had reached an optimum funding level and no longer had capacity to add additional clients to that strategy.

 

ELIZABETH

At the same time, the same manager had a different, but related, strategy in another part of the market that was newer and was not at capacity, but did not have the long-term track record that's ordinarily necessary to be implemented in an institutional portfolio. Through our familiarity with the firm and our familiarity with the investment team, we were able to take this manager, establish confidence in this newer strategy that did not have as long of a track record and did not have as large of a pool of assets under management, and bring them into the client portfolio where they've performed very successfully for several years since that decision.

 

ARMOND

One of the tips we share with clients when considering diverse managers is really, take a step back and consider the manager universe holistically. Take into consideration those managers that may not be well known, as well as those managers that are highly regarded in the industry, and really identify managers that you think that are best suited for your portfolio.

 

ELIZABETH

The number one goal is to improve portfolio returns. We think the cognitive diversity that a more diverse asset manager strategy lineup can bring, will augment returns over time and reduce risk, because it improves the diversification of thought process in the portfolio and can lessen exposure to market trends where herding effects from non-diverse managers can crowd into particular investments and have a negative impact on portfolio returns. So addressing these misperceptions, educating clients about the opportunities in diverse managers, and then intentionally seeking out these talented managers who add value to portfolios, those are all

 

 

 

part of just making the client investment experience better, as well as improving the asset flows to these diverse-owned management firms.

Diverse asset managers: It’s a win-win.

Partner with one of our talented, proven, and traditionally underrepresented asset managers. We'll help you to better align your personal values with your investment strategy—with the overall goal of improving your portfolio returns.

Pillars of fundamental investing

What’s our investment philosophy? It’s grounded in an understanding of your goals and a strong fiduciary ethic. Overall, we’re looking to take advantage of near-term market inefficiencies while achieving long-term sustainable results. Our philosophy is built on four fundamental investing pillars:

Truist Foundations and endowments at-a-glance

100+
years

Serving the not-for-profit community

$13
billion +

Not-for profit assets under management

20+
years

Average experience of our executive team working with not-for-profits

Get in touch with an expert.

We’ve got the expertise. Let us help you amplify your organization’s impact.

Stephen M. Yarbrough

Head of Institutional Investment Management
Background and contact info for Stephen Yarbough.

Elizabeth Cabell Jennings, CFA,® CIMA,® CAIA

Regional Practice Leader – NJ, NY, VA, PA, WV
Background and contact info for Elizabeth Jennings.

Mike Hill

Regional Practice Leader – TN, KY, TX, NC, OH, FL
Background and contact info for Mike Hill.

Michael C. Sahakian

Regional Practice Leader – Greater Washington, DC, MD
Background and contact info for Michael Sahakian.

Armond R. Reese, CFA,® AIF, CAIA

Regional Practice Leader – GA, SC, AL
Background and contact info for Armond Reese.

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