It has been an eventful week, and it's easy to fall behind. Here are the 10 most important reads of the week.

Top 30 Foundation Rising Stars. Foundations uphold some of society’s noblest causes that without its charitable efforts might otherwise be neglected. The following investment professionals are the hardworking men and women quietly diligencing new investments, pushing the envelope on new strategies like impact investing and ensuring the long-term prosperity of their institutions. These individuals operate on lean teams, have strong returns despite difficult market conditions and are quickly rising the ranks of institutional finance. Presenting Trusted Insight’s 2017 Top 30 Foundation Rising Stars:
 

 

Investment Lessons From University Endowments. In the introduction to their paper, Mulvey and Holen observe that college and university endowments have led the way ahead of other institutions in the move into hedge funds and private equity funds. In 2000, the average endowment portfolio was 23% in alternative assets; in 2014, the corresponding number was 57%.

CIO Of North Carolina Pension Fund Resigns. The chief investment officer for North Carolina's $94 billion state pension fund has unexpectedly resigned.

Sequoia, Andreessen Horowitz Are Secretly Backing This Cryptocurrency Hedge Fund. It is a stealthy startup hedge fund based in San Francisco that invests only in cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Ethereum. In the spring, Andreessen Horowitz, Sequoia Capital, Union Square Ventures and others invested in the fund.

Helmsley Trust's Liquidity-Focused Investment Strategy | Exclusive Q&A With Al Kim, Director Of Investments. Unlike many foundations or institutional investors at large, Helmsley Trust allocates its assets by a liquidity-based framework and works with a concentrated network of asset managers. In this interview, Kim explains the making of this investment strategy and the flexibility in asset exposure a liquidity-based framework affords.

University System Of Maryland's Greatest 'Hidden Gem' | CIO Sam Gallo | Exclusive Q&A, Part 2. In today’s article, Gallo shares the importance of building a solid team structure, the advantages of being affiliated with a higher education institution and why he's an advocate of well-roundedness.

Fred Wilson Demystifying Corporate Venture Capital. Fred Wilson, managing partner st Union Square Ventures, hit one below the belt when he went on record at the CB Insights Future of Fintech Conference to say that corporate venture capital (CVC) is dumb and that corporates investing in startups rather than buying them out doesn’t make sense. Wilson, still unconvinced, says that startups taking investments from CVCs should be wary as they are “doing business with the devil.”

A $13B Hedge Fund Is Sounding The Alarm On One Of The Biggest Trends In Investing. A $13 billion hedge fund that flies under the radar is sounding the alarm on one of the biggest investment trends: quants and passive investing.

A.I. Predictions: Founders Fund's Brian Singerman | Video (27:22). Brian Singerman, partner at Founders Fund, shares highlights from portfolio investments, the criteria for a Founders Fund investment and his predictions for artificial intelligence. In under a decade, Founders Fund has become what many people would consider to be in the top 5 in the venture capital space.

 

A Template For A Closed Multi-Family Office. An interesting family investment concept is the closed multi-family office. A closed MFO is a family office that works with a few families but is not actively looking to increase the number it works with. Effectively, it is a way of institutionalizing a co-investing arrangement between like-minded investors.