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TNI Institutional Research
True North Institute researches some of the most fundamental over-arching investment challenges that institutional investors will confront in the decade ahead.
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October 2025
Regime Change and Endowment (SAA) Model vs TPA
This paper argues that while there may indeed be a “regime change” taking place in the world, the institutional investor’s response is not a wholesale pivot away from the endowment model to the Total Portfolio Approach (TPA). The recommended model is a “hybrid endowment” where investors retain deep asset-class expertise and diversified manager rosters, enhance portfolio-level factor oversight, and—crucially—delegate more authority to the CIO to act nimbly when conditions change. And most importantly, look for alternative sources of outperformance from asset classes other than private equity.
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Analysis of Large US University Endowment Outperformance – November 2025 Update
This paper is an update two years on from our whitepaper entitled “Analysis of Large US University Endowment Outperformance” covering the 10-year period ending June 2023 of a select group of 12 US university endowments. This update covers the 10-year period ending June 2025. We have made one small change to the methodology and that is…
October 2025 TNI CIO Forum – Global Regime Change Summary
The October 2025 TNI CIO Forum summary has the TNI team (not the forum CIOs) concluding that, despite profound geopolitical, technological, and macroeconomic shifts, most institutions are not making major changes to overall investment strategy, but instead, are returning to disciplined execution. Key themes include heightened national security priorities, supply chain reshoring, AI- and defence-led…
April 2025 TNI CIO Forum – Governance Session Summary
The April 2025 TNI CIO Forum IC governance learning session focuses on improving investment committee effectiveness, emphasizing that weak governance often stems from unclear roles between boards and investment teams. The central recommendation is the adoption of regular, structured board orientation meetings to align committee members on responsibilities, investment policy, risk ownership, and broader institutional…
April 2025 TNI CIO Forum – Long Term Investment Strategy Implications of Trump Administration’s Policies
The April 2025 TNI CIO Forum post meeting notes on Trump examines the long-term investment implications of Trump administration policies amid a sharp equity market correction triggered by tariff hikes. The group highlights elevated recession risk, persistent inflation pressure, and constrained central bank flexibility, prompting institutional investors to prioritize liquidity, defensive positioning, and readiness to…
April 2025 TNI CIO Forum – AI Session Summary
The April 2025 TNI CIO Forum AI session summary explores how large institutional investors should think about AI over the next five years. It argues that AI—especially large language models—will become vastly more efficient, personalised, and ubiquitous, transforming most knowledge work and driving adoption from a small minority of users today to the majority of…
Beyond the Endowment Model
This whitepaper explores the potential obsolescence of the endowment model, particularly for endowments and foundations. The paper examines the historical performance of the endowment model, noting the significant role of private equity and venture capital in its success. However, due to factors such as increased competition and higher interest rates, the future prospects for these asset…
Will AI Deliver More Alpha to Institutional Investors
This document highlights the transformative impact of AI on institutional investing. It defines core AI concepts, discusses its macroeconomic effects, and outlines how it’s changing investment management, including asset manager selection, portfolio risk management, and the crucial need for data governance. It also describes the key attributes of AI-integrated asset managers, the importance of proprietary…