Blog

April 8, 2025 - With headlines dominated by tariffs, trade tensions, and shifting policies, it’s easy to feel uncertain about your nonprofit’s financial future. For 95 years, HighGround has been a trusted partner to nonprofits, dedicated to wise stewardship and providing clarity in times of uncertainty.

Fast Facts:

• The recent tariff-related market sell-off has been intensified by rising uncertainty around trade policies. Proposed increases in tariffs on key imports threaten to disrupt supply chains, increase costs for businesses, and slow economic growth.
• The potential reshaping of the global trade order has added volatility, particularly affecting trade-sensitive sectors like manufacturing and technology. Concerns around inflation and slowing global GDP have also resurfaced.
• Investor anxiety is high as the reality of trade disruptions unfolds. Unpredictable policy shifts are challenging traditional forecasting, making diversification and long-term planning more important than ever.

Our Response:

For client partners with exposure to equity markets, such as with endowments or other long-term investments, we believe the best course of action in challenging markets is to stay the course, unless your circumstances or objectives change.

• Long-Term Perspective - Managing endowments means looking past the headlines. While short-term disruptions are real, our approach remains grounded in long-term goals. We avoid reactive decision-making in favor of strategic consistency.
• Best Defensive Move - Our portfolios include a broad mix of equities, fixed income, real assets, and alternative investments. This diversification, paired with disciplined rebalancing and liquidity management, helps insulate portfolios from any single event. Our robust asset allocation framework has been stress-tested across decades of economic cycles.
• Active Management - We work with world-class investment managers who are skilled at identifying mispriced assets and adjusting exposures as risks evolve. Their expertise and agility offer an added layer of defense in times of uncertainty.

If you have any questions about your portfolio or how current developments may impact your financial goals, we’re here to help. Our commitment remains unchanged: to preserve and grow your assets in support of your mission today and for generations to come.