Outsourced Chief Investment Officer
Your endowment can do more than sustain operations, it can actively advance your mission. Veris has provided mission-aligned OCIO services to foundations & endowments since 2007.
Activate Your Mission
Most endowments are built to sustain an organization, funding grantmaking and operations year after year. At Veris, we believe an endowment can go further.
Serving as your Outsourced Chief Investment Officer, we seek to activate your portfolio to generate not only the financial returns your organization requires, but measurable progress toward the goals your work is designed to achieve. We call this activating your endowment in service of your mission — and it is the foundation of how we approach every OCIO engagement.
OCIO Approach
Acting as your OCIO, the Veris approach is grounded in a commitment to co-creation, transparency, and inclusivity.
We evaluate investments through a dual lens, assessing financial characteristics alongside mission alignment across asset classes, rather than treating impact as secondary to portfolio performance.
Our portfolios are constructed around each organization’s specific mission, financial profile, governance structure, and appetite for impact. No two are the same.
We have served foundations and endowments as a fiduciary since 2007, building and sustaining mission-aligned portfolios through changing markets, evolving governance structures, and shifting policy environments.
We currently work with a growing number of mission-driven organizations, with mission alignment as the shared foundation of every engagement. Our ideal client is an organization seeking alignment between its investments and its mission, wherever they are in that journey.
Our Collaborative Process
1. Discovery
We begin with a deep discovery period to understand your organization’s mission, financial profile, governance structure, grantmaking priorities, and history with mission-aligned investing. This foundation shapes what follows — from IPS development to portfolio construction.
2. Collaboration & Education
Working with your Investment Committee, we review current goals and recommend adjustments grounded in your mission and financial needs. We provide tailored education to build consensus among stakeholders — covering fiduciary responsibilities, impact strategies, and portfolio options — before any decisions are finalized.
3. IPS Development
We develop or update your Investment Policy Statement to formally reflect your organization’s impact themes, mission-related investing approach, and governance requirements — providing the policy foundation on which your portfolio will be built and maintained over time.
4. Portfolio Design
Once your updated IPS is approved, we prepare a detailed portfolio proposal and transition plan. Our design draws on rigorous research led by our Investments team — assessing risk-adjusted returns and mission alignment across asset classes using our proprietary manager due diligence framework. We aim to minimize cost and disruption to grantmaking and operations throughout the transition.
5. Implementation
We put the plan into action — beginning to activate your portfolio toward mission alignment. Implementation often unfolds across multiple phases over time; we guide your organization at a pace that works for your board, investment committee, and staff — not on a timeline imposed from outside.
6. Reporting
As part of ongoing client support, we monitor and report on both financial performance and impact outcomes. Monthly custodian statements and quarterly performance reports are accessible online. Our reporting integrates returns and risk data with impact progress — giving your board and committee a clear, unified view of where the portfolio stands against your goals.
7. Refinement
We review financial performance and impact outcomes on an ongoing basis and recommend adjustments to keep your portfolio tracking toward your goals. As markets shift, your organization’s priorities evolve, or new mission-aligned opportunities emerge, we bring analysis and recommendations to your Investment Committee for review and approval.
8. Communication
We keep board members, staff, and committee members informed through structured reporting, proactive outreach, and consistent availability for ad hoc questions. We prepare meeting agendas in collaboration with your key contacts, and our team remains accessible between formal reviews — so you always have a direct line to the people managing your portfolio.
How We Work With Organizations
Your board and Investment Committee can expect a high-touch, collaborative relationship — with direct, consistent access to our senior advisory team throughout the engagement.
We aim to function as an extension of your internal team, providing strategic oversight and portfolio management so your staff can focus on the programming and grantmaking that advances your mission.
Our structure can accommodate full discretion or a Discretionary-With-Advice model — balancing execution efficiency with the governance oversight your organization requires.
Education & Governance
Board and committee members come to the table with a wide range of financial backgrounds and varying levels of experience with mission-aligned investing. We design our engagement with that reality in mind — using accessible language, inclusive facilitation, and a genuine commitment to meeting stakeholders where they are as knowledge-builders.
We incorporate educational components into quarterly meetings where time allows and can facilitate dedicated sessions to explore specific topics in greater depth. Our team remains available for questions between meetings, and we see ourselves as both teachers and learners alongside your staff and leadership. Education formats we use include:
- 30-minute briefings and lunch-and-learns
- multi-session workshops
- webinars featuring fund managers or subject-matter experts
- and narrative quarterly reports that weave impact highlight stories alongside performance data to make complex metrics tangible for a range of readers.
We adapt our approach to fit your board’s time constraints and learning preferences. Topics we have addressed for foundation boards include:
- fiduciary support and how mission alignment integrates with fiduciary obligations
- shareholder engagement and proxy voting mechanics
- the spectrum from harm-reduction screening to positive impact investing
- and the current state of impact measurement and reporting.
More to Explore
Learn more about how Veris works with foundations and endowments — from the full range of advisory services we offer to the investment research and portfolio strategy behind our engagements.
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Read more about Foundations & EndowmentsFoundations & Endowments
Explore our full range of investment advisory services for foundations and endowments, from IPS development and asset allocation to reporting and field-building support.
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Read more about Investment Research & DiligenceInvestment Research & Diligence
Our Investments team applies rigorous financial and impact due diligence across asset classes — using our proprietary manager due diligence framework to assess opportunities from both lenses.
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Read more about Investment Management & StrategyInvestment Management & Strategy
From strategic asset allocation and manager selection to impact reporting and active ownership, Veris seeks to construct and manage portfolios in service of your financial goals and mission.