Investment Consultant Request for Proposal

The Alaska Community Foundation (ACF) is a statewide philanthropic institution with a mission to inspire the spirit of giving and connect people, organizations, and causes to strengthen Alaska’s communities, now and forever. Since our inception in 1995, we’ve grown to manage more than $240 million in assets and have awarded over $230 million in grants to nonprofit organizations across the state.

Today, we steward more than 2,500 philanthropic funds created by donors from all corners of Alaska. These endowed and non-endowed funds support a wide range of causes — from education, food security, and workforce development to the arts, the environment, suicide prevention, and the needs of local communities. We also manage the Pick.Click.Give. program in partnership with the State of Alaska, helping to encourage grassroots giving and strengthen the culture of philanthropy across our state.

We are seeking proposals for investment consulting services to advise upon a portfolio consisting of approximately $200 million in assets. The selected firm will partner with us to analyze and hire external managers, review and refine our investment policy, provide market insights, assess our investment strategy and portfolio mix, deliver quarterly performance reporting, and serve as a trusted resource for our Investment Committee.

Our investments currently target 53.50% Global Equities, Global Fixed Income/credit of 25%, Diversifying strategies of 10%, Real Assets of 9%, and cash or equivalents of 2.5%.

This search is part of our commitment to upholding our fiduciary responsibilities. Our incumbent investment consultant, Baird Institutional Consulting Services, is invited to submit a proposal. Proposals are due by September 15, 2025.

We oversee an investment portfolio of approximately $200 million in assets. As of March 31, 2025, our portfolio was allocated as follows:

Our portfolio is currently advised by an outside investment consultant while our staff manages a short-term cash program and closely held stock. In 2019, our board and Investment Committee approved expanding the use of passive management for publicly traded U.S. and International equities, with allocations between 75% and 100% in those areas.

Illiquid investments, including below-investment-grade income, hedge funds, real estate, real assets, and private equity/debt, remain actively managed. Recently, our Investment Committee has explored increasing our allocation to private equity and private debt. Any firm submitting a proposal should be prepared to share its experience and expertise in this space.