Vistamark Investments
Chicago Area312-895-3001 Phoenix Area480-906-3001 info@vistamark.com

Foundations, Endowments & Nonprofits

OCIO for Foundations & Endowments in the Chicago Area

An investment office for your mission — investment policy, spending policy, asset allocation, manager due diligence and committee reporting, delivered by people who have done this for institutions for decades.

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Vistamark serves as outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) or non-discretionary investment consultant to foundations, endowments, community foundations, healthcare systems, religious institutions and other nonprofits, working alongside the board and investment committee under a written investment policy. Our Chief Investment Officer, Matthew Rice, CFA, CAIA, wrote the Wiley reference on the subject, Nonprofit Asset Management: Effective Investment Strategies and Oversight (2012).

Who this is for

Built for

  • Private and family foundations
  • College, university and independent-school endowments
  • Community foundations and donor-advised platforms
  • Healthcare systems and hospital foundations
  • Religious institutions, dioceses and denominational funds
  • Museums, libraries, associations and other operating nonprofits

What’s included

  • Investment policy statementDrafting or refreshing the IPS: objectives, risk tolerance, spending policy, asset allocation ranges, rebalancing, and roles and responsibilities under UPMIFA.
  • Spending policy designModeling spending rules — moving averages, banded inflation, hybrid — against return expectations so the board understands the trade-off between today’s grants and tomorrow’s purchasing power.
  • Asset allocation and portfolio constructionCapital market assumptions, scenario and liquidity analysis, and portfolio construction using our proprietary VistaBuilder™ framework.
  • Manager research and due diligenceSourcing, diligence and ongoing monitoring across public markets, hedge funds, private equity, private credit and real assets, with documentation your auditors and committee can rely on.
  • Implementation and rebalancingDiscretionary (OCIO) or non-discretionary implementation, disciplined rebalancing via VistaBalancer™, custodian and trading coordination.
  • Committee reporting and educationClear quarterly reporting, performance attribution, fee transparency, fiduciary education for new trustees and support for audits and Form 990 questions.
  • Values-based and faith-based screensImplementation of USCCB, Wespath, Shariah and other denominational or mission-aligned guidelines without abandoning diversification.

How an engagement works

From first call to standing partnership

  1. DiscoveryA no-cost conversation with your committee chair or executive director about the portfolio, governance, current provider and what is not working.
  2. AssessmentWe review the IPS, spending policy, allocation, managers, fees and liquidity, and return a written assessment your committee can act on — whether or not you hire us.
  3. ProposalA tailored scope — OCIO, consultant or project — with a transition plan that respects your fiscal year and audit calendar.
  4. Onboarding and stewardshipCustodian coordination, policy adoption, implementation, then a standing cadence of committee meetings and reporting.

Frequently asked

Questions we hear first

Short answers here; longer treatments in our Foundations & Endowments research.

What is the difference between an OCIO and an investment consultant?
A consultant advises and the committee decides and implements; an OCIO (outsourced Chief Investment Officer) is delegated authority to implement the investment policy — hiring and firing managers and rebalancing — within limits the committee sets. Vistamark offers both. Many committees choose OCIO to shorten decision cycles and clarify accountability while retaining control of policy, spending and oversight.
How transparent are your fees?
Completely. Vistamark is a fiduciary to every client, with completely transparent fees. We do not sell proprietary products, and our Form ADV Part 2A and Form CRS are on our Disclosures page.
What does UPMIFA require of our board?
The Uniform Prudent Management of Institutional Funds Act, adopted in nearly every state, requires boards to invest endowment funds prudently as a whole portfolio, spend at a rate a prudent person would consider sustainable, and follow a defined process to modify donor restrictions. Our guide, “UPMIFA in Plain English,” walks through what that means in a committee meeting.
Do you work with smaller endowments?
Yes. Our leadership has advised institutions from a few million dollars to multi-billion-dollar pools. Smaller organizations often benefit most from an OCIO model because it delivers an institutional process without the cost of in-house staff.
Can you implement Catholic, Methodist or other faith-based investment guidelines?
Yes. We have published implementation guides for Catholic (USCCB), Jewish, Islamic, Methodist, Baptist, Quaker and Christian Science investors and build screened portfolios that stay diversified.

Watch

The assumptions behind the advice

Before you hire any OCIO, ask to see their capital market assumptions. Ours are public — our CIO presents them every year.

2026 Capital Market Assumptions — video by Matthew Rice, CFA, CAIA
2026 Capital Market Assumptions · Matthew Rice, CFA, CAIA · January 21, 2026

Free template

OCIO & Investment Consultant RFP Template

An editable Word RFP — fifty-two questions, a fee disclosure schedule every bidder completes the same way, timeline and scoring matrix.

Get the template

Further reading

Nonprofit Asset Management: Effective Investment Strategies and Oversight

The Wiley reference for foundation and endowment investment committees — investment policy, spending policy, asset allocation, manager selection and fiduciary oversight — written by Vistamark’s Chief Investment Officer, Matthew Rice, CFA, CAIA (Wiley, 2012).

About the book

Related research

Read before you decide

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