Accessible
Investment
Management
Providing Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) solutions to help foundations, charities, and endowments maximize their impact.
How OCIO Services Can Add Value
An Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) serves as a dedicated investment partner, providing expert management of an organization’s investment portfolio. This model enhances governance, reduces internal resource demands, and promotes more consistent, long-term performance.
How We Add Value
We act as your internal investment partner, providing cost-efficient oversight and managing the day-to-day demands of your portfolio. Our disciplined, transparent solutions are thoughtfully tailored to align with your organization’s mission and adapt to its evolving needs.
Stay mission-focused
by freeing up internal resources for strategic priorities.
Navigate market challenges
with adaptive investment strategies tailored to your goals.
Meet compliance
with proven risk management frameworks that safeguard your assets.
OUR SERVICES
Comprehensive Portfolio Management
Investment Policy Development
A clear, customized policy statement defines investment objectives, constraints, and governance for your portfolio.
Cash Management
Portfolios are structured to meet near-term liquidity needs while maintaining yield and policy compliance.
Portfolio Construction
Portfolios are built around your organization’s goals, risk tolerance, and time horizon using a disciplined, evidence-based framework.
Risk Mitigation
Active monitoring and thoughtful diversification are used to reduce exposure to unnecessary or concentrated risks.
Rebalancing & Optimization
Portfolios are rebalanced regularly to maintain strategic targets and adapt to changing market conditions.
Performance Reporting
Timely, transparent reporting tracks portfolio performance relative to benchmarks and policy goals.
Why We Are Different?
Simple
We help clients make informed decisions through clear, straightforward guidance. By avoiding unnecessary complexity and costly, trendy products, we focus on education that builds lasting confidence.
Transparent
Institutional-quality investment management is delivered at a fraction of the cost charged by traditional providers. There are no hidden costs, no upselling, and no conflicts of interest.
Focused
Our work is centered entirely on investment management. With a disciplined, evidence-based approach, we stay focused on strategic diversification, data-driven decisions, and long-term results.
OUR APPROACH
Your Needs Are Unique. Your Guidance Should Be Too.
1. Diagnose
Collaborate with your team to understand investment goals, time horizon, liquidity needs, and risk tolerance. This includes a full review of your existing portfolio, policies, and governance framework to identify areas for improvement.
2. Construct
Apply an evidence-based approach to build a customized portfolio with strategic asset allocation, cost-efficient implementation, and stress-tested risk controls. Every decision is grounded in data and aligned with your priorities.
3. Monitor
Ongoing oversight ensures portfolios remain aligned with investment policies and current market conditions. Regular reporting provides benchmark-relative performance, confirms compliance, and includes key market trends.
CASE STUDIES
See Our Tailored Investment Solutions in Action
5 min read
Case Study A:
Solutions for A Non-Profit
A non-profit organization seeking to minimize risk in its portfolio while achieving steady growth.
Case Study A:
Solutions for A Non-Profit
Our Client
A non-profit organization seeking to minimize risk in its portfolio while achieving steady growth. Their goal was to ensure they had ongoing funds available to support their mission’s needs.
Our Approach
We began by gaining a deep understanding of how the client’s investment objectives align with their mission’s core goals.
We analyzed their past investment performance to identify potential vulnerabilities and risks that could hinder their ability to address the needs of their mission.
By studying the client’s business model, sector, and future resource demands, we tailored our strategy to fit their specific financial needs.
Our investment plan prioritized protection against volatility while ensuring steady growth and maintaining enough liquidity to meet urgent funding demands.
Our Solution
We rebalanced the portfolio to focus on cash and liquid assets, ensuring the organization could meet sudden, high demands for funds when necessary.
We established a robust oversight system for managing cash and liquid assets, securing them in low-risk, steady-return investments.
A small portion of the portfolio was allocated to higher-risk, diversified investments to boost returns without compromising security.
Throughout the process, we ensured that every investment aligned with the organization’s mission and values.
5 min read
Case Study B: Solutions for A Professional Services Firm
A mid-sized professional services firm managing multiple pension plans and investable assets looking for a tailored investment strategy
Case Study B: Solutions for A Professional Services Firm
Our Client
A mid-sized professional services firm managing multiple pension plans and investable assets looking for a tailored investment strategy to ensure financial stability and future growth.
Our Approach
We conducted a comprehensive analysis of the firm’s business, assessing cash flows, liability profiles, and key factors impacting long-term sustainability.
We worked closely with the client to understand their growth vision, resource requirements, risk tolerance, and potential vulnerabilities to market shocks.
Our Solution
We implemented an investment strategy focused on building resilience against fluctuating cash flows, economic volatility, and changes in the firm’s customer base.
We advised the client on proactively identifying potential business risks, ensuring rapid interaction with Gaard Capital OCIO and responsiveness to secure effective hedges and diversification.
The portfolio was carefully balanced across varying risk levels, with an emphasis on both preserving capital and achieving long-term growth.
How does an OCIO work?
The OCIO provider assumes fiduciary responsibility and takes ownership of certain portfolio management responsibilities. However, the asset owner retains full authority over asset allocation and defining risk and return objectives.
The OCIO applies relevant investment strategies to achieve these goals, ensuring the endowment can sustainably fund its mission over time.
Who are OCIOs for?
An OCIO is commonly used by institutional investors, including nonprofits, endowments, foundations, pensions, healthcare systems, and family offices. While traditionally sought by smaller entities, larger organizations are increasingly turning to OCIO services to address specific objectives and constraints.
How can an OCIO improve investment performance?
Today’s investors face increasingly complex markets and a need for expertise to achieve desired returns. Gaard’s OCIO services provide the precision and agility needed to make timely portfolio adjustments, helping clients manage risk and capitalize on opportunities in dynamic markets.
By taking a holistic view of the portfolio, we align strategic and tactical asset allocation and implement cost-effective, efficient investment strategies. Our proactive approach ensures clients can adapt to changing conditions and stay focused on achieving their long-term goals.
How can an OCIO help with limited resources?
Investing—building a well-diversified portfolio, setting strategic asset allocations, and managing risk—is at the heart of OCIO services. Gaard focuses on delivering disciplined portfolio management and cost-effective strategies tailored to each client’s goals.
Institutions also value the ‘outsourced’ aspect of OCIO, which reduces the burden of daily investment oversight, simplifies reporting and analytics, and ensures compliance with governance and regulatory standards. By taking on these responsibilities, Gaard allows organizations to save time and maximize resources, empowering them to focus on their mission.
What is evidence-based investment?
Evidence-based investing is an approach grounded in research and data, using proven strategies to guide investment decisions. By relying on empirical evidence rather than speculation, this method aims to optimize returns while managing risk effectively.
What are the advantages of evidence-based investing?
Evidence-based investing provides several key benefits compared to other approaches:
- Higher Long-Term Returns: This approach often leads to more consistent and higher long-term returns by avoiding market timing and speculative bubbles.
- Lower Costs: Focusing on long-term strategies reduces unnecessary trading, minimizing fees and trading costs and enhancing net returns.
- Reduced Risk: Diversified portfolios are less exposed to the volatility and risks associated with speculative or sentiment-driven investing.
- Predictable Outcomes: Grounded in historical data and peer-reviewed research, this approach offers more confidence in the predictability and reliability of investment outcomes.
INSIGHTS
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Fees Kill
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The Price-Quality Myth
Uncover the reality: funds with lower fees consistently outperform their high-fee counterparts, debunking the price-quality heuristic.
Knowledgable Investors
Discover how we empower clients with the insights needed to optimize returns and minimize costs.
Fees Kill
Discover how fee structures can erode long-term growth, and why our low-cost, transparent approach empowers endowments to maximize their impact.
The Price-Quality Myth
Uncover the reality: funds with lower fees consistently outperform their high-fee counterparts, debunking the price-quality heuristic.
Knowledgable Investors
Discover how we empower clients with the insights needed to optimize returns and minimize costs.
Still Have Questions About Us and How We Can Help Your Organization?
Please fill out the form below with any additional inquiries, concerns, or comments. Our expert team will get back to you as soon as possible.