Episode summary
From Spanish Teacher to $18B OCIO CEO | Tim Yates, Commonfund OCIO
Dakota Live!
· · 1 hr 14 min · Hosts: Robert Morier · Guests: Tim Yates
Summary
Tim Yates traces Commonfund OCIO’s business back to the market stress of 2001-2003, when nonprofits needed someone to look across the total portfolio, make timely decisions, and manage spending pressure. He argues that the core OCIO job is not replacing an investment committee, but helping institutions think clearly about strategic asset allocation, illiquidity, and mission-linked constraints such as tuition dependence, restricted endowments, and long-term purchasing power.
A major theme is that nonprofit investing is structurally different from for-profit asset management. Yates says Commonfund stays exclusively focused on nonprofits because their objectives involve perpetuity, donor intent, and intergenerational equity, and because the firm can align itself with clients rather than shareholders. He also says Commonfund prefers specialist managers over broad, multi-asset firms, and values managers that can clearly explain how they generate returns, how repeatable that process is, and whether performance is skill or market beta.
Yates also points to Commonfund’s data advantage through the NACUBO-Commonfund study and internal nonprofit financial metrics. He says that data has shown illiquidity is often a bigger driver of endowment return dispersion than simple asset mix, and that the firm uses those insights to inform policy portfolios more than short-term market calls.
Key takeaways
- Yates says the OCIO model was born from nonprofit clients needing faster portfolio decisions during the 2001-2003 downturn.
- Commonfund stays focused on nonprofits because mission, perpetuity, donor intent, and intergenerational equity make those portfolios fundamentally different.
- Yates argues that the biggest portfolio lever for many endowments is illiquidity, not just public-versus-private mix.
- He says the best managers can explain exactly how they generate returns and can be evaluated for repeatability, not just recent performance.
- Commonfund uses NACUBO-Commonfund data and internal nonprofit metrics to inform strategic allocation and identify risks like deferred maintenance and enrollment pressure.
Notable quotes
“the biggest decision you're going to make is the strategic asset allocation and how much in equities and private versus public”
“the biggest driver uh the data over the last 20 years has been the degree of illquity liquity and the performance of the liquidity”
“we want to invest in managers that are laser focused in what they do”
How the episode opens
Welcome to the Dakota Live podcast. I'm your host, Robert Morier. The goal of this podcast is to help you better know the people behind investment decisions.
We introduce you to chief investment officers, manager research professionals, and other industry leaders to help you sell in between the lines and better understand the investment sales ecosystem. If you're not familiar with Dakota and our Dakota live content, please visit our website at dakota.com. Before we get started, I need to read a brief disclosure.
This content is provided forformational purposes and should not be relied upon as recommendations or advice about investing in securities. All investments involve risk and may lose money. Dakota does not guarantee the accuracy of any of the information provided by the speaker who is not affiliated with Dakota.
Not a solicitation, testimonial, or an endorsement by Dakota or its affiliates. Nothing herein is intended to indicate approval, support, or recommendation of the investment adviser or its supervised persons by Dakota. Today's episode is brought to you by Dakota Marketplace.
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Our guest today is Tim Yates, president and chief executive officer of Common Fund OCIO. In that role, Tim leads all aspects of Common Fund OCIO's business, overseeing a team of investment professionals who advise, implement, and monitor custom total portfolio solutions for nonprofit institutions.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- private equity
- endowment and foundation investing
- risk budgeting
- illiquidity
- private credit
Companies and tickers mentioned
- Commonfund OCIO
Watch the episode
Watch “From Spanish Teacher to $18B OCIO CEO | Tim Yates, Commonfund OCIO” on YouTube
Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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Dakota Live!, this episode and its artwork belong to Robert Morier. Octagon is not affiliated with the show; this page is an independent summary.
