The Bellagio Forum hosted a breakfast during the European Foundation Center Annual General Assembly in Athens on May 31st at the Hilton, Athens.

In an insightful discussion chaired by Deutsche Bank’s Michael Hoelz, the panelists kept the early morning guests wide awake as they outlined the challenges faced for management of foundation endowments in the future.

Jan-Olaf Willums, BFSD Board Member and Chairman of the Sustainable Asset Management Task Force began by presenting the progress made during the BFSD meeting the day earlier. After providing a brief history about how the BFSD developed the concept for the Protocol for Responsible Management of Endowments (PRIME) He explained, “We decided to move forward on an issue whose time has come. The Bellagio Forum intends to undertake the necessary research to establish this Protocol and then create a prototype fund for those foundations which have the foresight to be at the forefront of this issue.”

Xavier de Bayser of I.DE.A.M and Steve Facli of Calvert, panelists who are both asset managers with nearly 40 years of experience between them, agreed with Willums and proceeded to provide some of the technical information about the challenges faced and the manner in which they can be overcome.

Michael Brophy, former head of the Charities Aid Foundation, provided some important anecdotes from his long experience. Describing the need to enlighten, educate and empower Foundation heads in how to deal with their asset management team by asking the right questions and avoid being intimidated by an area of expertise often foreign to them. He concluded with the clear statement that “This change is inevitable” and that the Bellagio Forum Task Force was on the right track to accelerate it.