Amherst College

Generated outreach message alignment report
1. You run a partner-first process and are actively inviting external managers to submit opportunities.
We’re an entrepreneurial, owner-managed hedge fund and can present a focused, high-conviction opportunity through your Prospective Partner process.
Evidence
“The cornerstone of our investment strategy is “partner first,” focusing on investing with excellent fund managers across asset classes and around the globe.” “We are always on the hunt for excellent investment partners. If you’re an investment manager and would like to submit an investment opportunity, please complete the form below.” “Prospective Partner Form If you are an external investment manager or third party marketer and would like to submit an investment opportunity for our review, please complete the form below.”
2. You prefer to concentrate capital with a small set of high‑conviction managers and grow those relationships over time.
Our concentrated best‑ideas portfolio and small AUM align with deep, scalable partnerships where alignment and trust matter.
Evidence
“And finally, our strong preference is to concentrate our portfolio in a few key partners, growing our partnerships with managers as they become more and more productive.” “Today, we have 40 active relationships across our portfolio, with over half the portfolio invested with managers we've partnered with for more than a decade, and nearly half managed by our top 10 relationships.”
3. Your public equity program is global and ACWI‑oriented, with clear openness to international and emerging markets mandates.
We run a global, high‑conviction strategy with EM capability that can complement an ACWI‑benchmarked lineup.
Evidence
“Our public equity portfolio meaningfully outperformed its benchmark (17.9% vs. 16.2% for the MSCI ACWI)” “Beginning in fiscal year 2021, Amherst adopted a simple market benchmark which represents a blended benchmark of 70% MSCI All Country World Index and 30% Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Index.” “Geographic Region Focus: - Select - US Global/International Emerging Markets Country Focus:”
4. You seek diverse, low‑correlation return drivers and allocate to absolute return/hedge fund strategies.
Our low‑correlation, high‑conviction equity hedge approach is designed to add differentiated return streams alongside equity beta.
Evidence
“We seek balance in our partner lineup: while we are comfortable taking risk in the portfolio, we invest with managers that provide us with diverse return drivers.” “Absolute Return managers—investors with open mandates typically pursuing differentiated and uncorrelated return streams—punched above their weight, delivering a 25% return in aggregate, accounting for a quarter of the endowment’s total return despite only accounting for 15% of the total portfolio.” “Asset Class: - Select - Absolute Return/Multi-Asset Equity Hedge Funds Public Equities Private Equities ...”
5. You manage with a 10+ year horizon and favor long‑tenured, trusted manager relationships.
We have a long track record and an owner‑managed structure built for enduring partnerships and compounding over multi‑year cycles.
Evidence
“While the portfolio is managed for long-term (think 10+ years), we understand the performance drivers for 2024 and are comfortable with how the portfolio performed.” “Today, we have 40 active relationships across our portfolio, with over half the portfolio invested with managers we've partnered with for more than a decade, and nearly half managed by our top 10 relationships.” “we focus on a number of characteristics for a potential investment, to determine manager or strategy sizing. Those characteristics include, but are not limited to, our understanding of and trust in the manager...”
6. You have explicit fossil‑fuel restrictions and expect managers to engage on sustainability, including proxy voting with ISS.
Our strategy can align with these guidelines and provide transparency around ESG risk and stewardship.
Evidence
“we announced our decision to halt all new investments in fossil-fuel specialized funds and instructed our separately managed account managers to sell any current holdings (of which we had none) and no longer acquire direct investments in fossil fuel companies.” “In addition, we vote our proxies in accordance with sustainability principles, in partnership with ISS.” “100% Percentage of the College’s active managers with whom the Investment Office has engaged about sustainability”
7. Liquidity and top‑down risk controls are central, including a policy to monetize stock distributions immediately.
We offer a liquid, transparent vehicle with disciplined risk management that fits a liquidity‑aware endowment framework.
Evidence
“Our cash and bond balances remain at a healthy 4%, and liquidity management is a central feature of our risk- and portfolio-management framework.” “Net cash flows from our private portfolio for the year stood at $55.1 million, and our policy is to sell all of our stock distributions upon receipt.”