Research

Makena’s sustainability efforts in 2023 were centered around carbon tracking and advancing diversity of thought in our investments. Our approach is guided by our core investment principles and consistent with our fiduciary responsibility to preserve and grow our clients’ capital over the long term.

Makena believes that identifying and advancing material factors related to environmental stewardship, social impact, and corporate governance can improve shareholder returns. Our sustainable investment framework starts with and is rooted in our fiduciary responsibility to deliver the highest risk-adjusted, long-term returns for our investors.

This letter addresses how we’ve responded to one of the most challenging investment environments of the last couple decades. We reflect and provide detail on our portfolio changes and dive into our Hedge Fund portfolio, which we are particularly excited given the current environment. We appreciate the relative recency and duration of this challenging period and are mindful of the temptation to overreact. While we will continue to adjust the portfolio as necessary, we remain excited about our manager roster and underlying portfolio as it stands today.

Makena believes that identifying and advancing material factors related to environmental stewardship, social impact, and corporate governance can improve shareholder returns. Our sustainable investment framework starts with and is rooted in our fiduciary responsibility to deliver the highest risk-adjusted, long-term returns for our investors.

This letter reflects on this new regime and addresses how we are responding to these heightened risks and “changed facts,” while still adhering to our core principle of being a long-term investor. The bottom line: we still have no edge in predicting these macro and geopolitical events, but we’re concerned that the dispersion of market outcomes has increased and that the compensation for risk is lower than it was a couple of years ago. Therefore, we have dialed back our risk levels and are being more cautious about rebalancing, unlike our approach to managing the portfolio in the spring of 2020. We still like the balance in our portfolio, which will help us navigate both inflationary and low-growth disinflationary environments.

Makena believes that identifying and advancing material factors related to environmental stewardship, social impact, and corporate governance can improve shareholder returns. Our sustainable investment framework starts with and is rooted in our fiduciary responsibility to deliver the highest risk-adjusted, long-term returns for our investors.

The last decade has seen tremendous growth in Outsourced CIO (“OCIO”) assets, from just $100 billion globally in 2007 to over $2 trillion today. However, the term “OCIO” is broad, at best. We have identified four key areas of differentiation among the OCIO industry. Within each area, there is a wide spectrum of offerings. This Makena Insight acts as a guide to navigating each area of differentiation. Understanding the breadth of offerings and how to assess them will help focus an institution’s OCIO search.

In order to provide more regular and timely insights around our approach to the Public Equity, Hedge Funds, and Fixed Income asset classes, Makena is introducing a new semi-annual Marketables Investor Letter. This first edition outlines the implications of 2020’s market actions and reviews Makena’s approach to active management in Public Equity.

Cryptocurrency and blockchain technology have the potential to upend the financial system, the internet, and the very notion of a corporation. But does the hype around this rapidly expanding technology translate to practical investment themes? The latest Makena Insight outlines the multiple functions of blockchain technology as they relate to a well-balanced venture capital portfolio.

By integrating ESG factors into our investment activities, we believe we can materially enhance financial and operating outcomes. Makena’s 2020 ESG Report examines our philosophy and process around ESG integration, and reviews the evolution of our approach over time.