When data provi­des orientation

When the board of trus­tees of a foun­da­tion makes decis­i­ons about assets, it is rarely just a matter of numbers. It is a ques­tion of respon­si­bi­lity and of how the capi­tal can be used in such a way that it serves the foundation’s purpose even in turbu­lent times. The consul­ting company c‑alm is at the inter­face between these two issues. The name, prono­un­ced “calm,” reflects the company’s atti­tude: calm and clear thin­king in complex situa­tions. “We provide orien­ta­tion rather than fuel­ling the frenzy,” says Stefan Beiner, part­ner at c‑alm. This atti­tude, along with the company culture, also shapes the consul­ting services. “Howe­ver, for us, calm does not mean passi­vity, but rather making well-foun­ded decis­i­ons based on facts,” conti­nues Beiner. On the other hand, the name c‑alm – compre­hen­sive asset-liabi­lity-manage­ment – also stands for a holi­stic consul­ting approach: for exam­ple, when inves­t­ing the assets, the expec­ted disbur­se­ments for the next few years are also taken into account.

c‑alm supports foun­da­ti­ons with the clas­sic ques­ti­ons surroun­ding the invest­ment process: from alig­ning invest­ments with the grants to defi­ning an appro­priate invest­ment risk to imple­men­ting the chosen invest­ment stra­tegy and moni­to­ring it. The inte­rest and need for inte­gra­ting sustainable invest­ments and impact inves­t­ing into this process is parti­cu­larly high among foun­da­ti­ons. In addi­tion, c‑alm also imple­ments digi­ta­liza­tion projects with modern data analy­sis and arti­fi­cial intel­li­gence to enable well-foun­ded, data-driven decis­i­ons. The data science and AI solu­ti­ons are explainable, compli­ant with regu­la­ti­ons and consis­t­ently focu­sed on the added value for custo­mers. For exam­ple, c‑alm has crea­ted the plat­form Econo­mico, a digi­tal compa­ri­son tool that works on the prin­ci­ple of Compa­ris and enables a struc­tu­red over­view of the market with mini­mal effort. Without regis­tra­tion hurd­les or time-consum­ing data entry, users can directly compare nume­rous provi­ders and their condi­ti­ons. The approach makes it clear where the diffe­ren­ces actually lie and makes the compe­ti­tion between provi­ders much more transparent.

Means to fulfill a mission

Stefan Beiner belie­ves that this demand for certainty in action also charac­te­ri­zes the advi­sory services provi­ded by c‑alm. In parti­cu­lar, invest­ment stra­te­gies show how important it is to take a calm, forward-looking approach. As a former head of asset manage­ment at one of Switzerland’s largest pension funds, Beiner is aware that “the next market down­turn will come. We just don’t know when or how severe it will be.” It is all the more important that the foun­da­tion board defi­nes how foun­da­ti­ons should behave in the event of a stock market crisis even in times of calm. “This requi­res a degree of compo­sure from our clients – and the willing­ness to stick to decis­i­ons that have been made toge­ther,” says Beiner.

c‑alm sees itself as a profes­sio­nal part­ner for bodies that have long-term respon­si­bi­li­ties. “The invest­ment stra­tegy is the most important compo­nent for the future of exis­ting assets,” says Stefan Beiner. Only when it is clear what risk a foun­da­tion is able and willing to take can there be a well-foun­ded discus­sion about returns, sustaina­bi­lity or impact.

Accor­ding to Beiner, this goes beyond purely discus­sing risk and return in various scena­rios. “We support foun­da­ti­ons effi­ci­ently and profes­sio­nally in ensu­ring that their assets secure the foundation’s purpose in the long term.” Capi­tal is not an end in itself, but a means to fulfill a mission. “Our heart beats where money can make a meaningful diffe­rence,” says Beiner. Foun­da­ti­ons in parti­cu­lar show that when inves­t­ing, not only finan­cial, but also social and ecolo­gi­cal returns can be relevant.

Discus­sing based on facts

Where stra­te­gic guide­lines are defi­ned, the actual work begins in the commit­tees. Cedric Müller is a specia­list in asset-liabi­lity analy­sis at c‑alm and Head of Rese­arch and Deve­lo­p­ment in the finan­cial and invest­ment sector. He also teaches at the Univer­sity of St. Gallen on pension fund invest­ments and finan­cial and insu­rance mathe­ma­tics. In the commit­tees, Cedric Müller contri­bu­tes his exper­tise to struc­ture the often intense discus­sions and to make the decis­ion-making basis trans­pa­rent – espe­ci­ally when it comes to sustaina­bi­lity or contro­ver­sial invest­ment clas­ses. “There is no objec­tive right or wrong,” says Müller. What is important is that the decis­i­ons are in line with the world­view and prio­ri­ties of the orga­niza­tion. Müller sees his role as being to clearly present the advan­ta­ges and disad­van­ta­ges. “Since we do not sell any invest­ment products oursel­ves, the commit­tee is confi­dent that we will provide neutral infor­ma­tion on the various opti­ons,” he says. “This enables the decis­ion-makers to fulfill their responsibilities.”

For Philine Weder, project mana­ger for ALM studies and consul­tant in the field of invest­ment stra­tegy with a focus on sustaina­bi­lity and impact inves­t­ing, sustaina­bi­lity is not a protec­ted term, but rather an open discus­sion forum. For Weder, the ques­tion of what the term means for a foun­da­tion is often one of the first ques­ti­ons she asks in her consul­ta­ti­ons. “At c‑alm, sustaina­bi­lity means conside­ring finan­cial and non-finan­cial factors such as ecolo­gi­cal, social and gover­nance aspects toge­ther and discus­sing any possi­ble inter­ac­tions between them.” Accor­ding to Weder, howe­ver, each foun­da­tion must deter­mine its own prio­ri­ties – whether it is climate, children’s rights or good corpo­rate gover­nance – and these must be in line with the foundation’s purpose, but this is not a requirement.

Stefan Beiner empha­si­zes that it is crucial to remove emoti­ons from the discus­sion. “Sustaina­bi­lity is often presen­ted as an either/or ques­tion and is shaped by diffe­rent expe­ri­en­ces. Our aim is to make topics more objec­tive and to discuss them on the basis of facts.” Studies and analy­ses could help to verify assump­ti­ons. Weder refers in this context to a study on micro­fi­nance invest­ments curr­ently being conduc­ted by c‑alm. The aim of this study is, among other things, to verify whether micro­fi­nance invest­ments achieve a market-conform return. Such findings help in discus­sions with the committees. 

Impact is part of a foundation’s DNA

For Philine Weder, impact is part of every grant-making foun­da­tion from the very begin­ning. “The effec­tive imple­men­ta­tion of the foundation’s purpose is the DNA of a grant-making foun­da­tion,” she says. In addi­tion to projects and grants, the foundation’s own assets can also play an important role. “Through their grants, grant-making foun­da­ti­ons imple­ment their foun­da­tion purpose in a targe­ted and effec­tive manner. In addi­tion, they can also achieve impact through impact invest­ments, in parti­cu­lar through invest­ments in impact-orien­ted compa­nies or assets,” explains Weder. 

The spec­trum ranges from “finan­cial first” invest­ments, where the finan­cial return takes prio­rity, to “impact first” invest­ments, where the focus is on the impact. Accor­ding to Weder, it is precis­ely in the latter case that poten­tial trade-offs between impact and the available funds for own funding projects must be carefully weig­hed, taking into account the regu­la­tory frame­work. What Weder parti­cu­larly appre­cia­tes about these proces­ses is the work in the commit­tees them­sel­ves. “People with very diffe­rent back­grounds come toge­ther to deve­lop solu­ti­ons that will change our world for the better,” she says. In every commit­tee, she expe­ri­en­ces great commit­ment and open­ness. “The discus­sions are stimu­la­ting and always chall­enge me to think further about inno­va­tive solutions.”

Bridging the gap between rese­arch and practice

c‑alm was foun­ded more than 20 years ago as a spin-off from the Univer­sity of St. Gallen and now has two loca­ti­ons in St. Gallen and Zurich. The company’s proxi­mity to the acade­mic world has shaped it to this day. Many employees have teaching posi­ti­ons at univer­si­ties – Stefan Beiner also teaches finance at the Univer­sity of St. Gallen. At the same time, they have many years of expe­ri­ence in imple­men­ta­tion. “We trans­late the latest findings from finance and risk rese­arch into concrete recom­men­da­ti­ons for action,” explains Beiner. This means that complex models are trans­la­ted into under­stan­da­ble decis­ion-making bases, so that foun­da­ti­ons can use acade­mic quality in prac­tice. The team often encoun­ters a miscon­cep­tion: advi­sors from the acade­mic world have a lot of know­ledge from theory, but little prac­ti­cal expe­ri­ence. “This image is too simpli­stic for us,” says Beiner. “The strength of c‑alm lies precis­ely in combi­ning scien­ti­fic depth with exten­sive imple­men­ta­tion knowledge.”

Beiner gained his first prac­ti­cal expe­ri­ence in the foun­da­tion sector in Canada. As part of a team of volun­teers, he helped to estab­lish a center for indi­ge­nous commu­ni­ties near Thun­der Bay, Onta­rio. This invol­ved buil­ding stra­te­gic part­ner­ships, fund­rai­sing, and deve­lo­ping programs such as after-school care and summer camps. “I lear­ned how important inter­cul­tu­ral sensi­ti­vity and trus­ting coope­ra­tion are for the success of projects,” says Beiner.

This period has had a lasting impact on his under­stan­ding of foun­da­tion work and social respon­si­bi­lity, and has also influen­ced his work at c‑alm. For the coming years, the company aims to support foun­da­ti­ons in focu­sing the impact of their capi­tal more stron­gly on their invest­ment stra­tegy – whether by opti­mi­zing returns to ensure the sustainable fulfill­ment of the foundation’s purpose, by making direct impact-orien­ted invest­ments, or by a combi­na­tion of both. “As an inde­pen­dent party, we want to help ensure that assets are more stron­gly focu­sed on impact without jeopar­di­zing the finan­cial basis,” says Beiner. To this end, c‑alm does not make loud promi­ses, but rather deve­lops clear solu­ti­ons that combine returns and impact in a calm and metho­di­cal manner.

Invest­ment manage­ment digi­tal – Digi­tal Tools

Modern instru­ments are chan­ging the way foun­da­ti­ons manage their assets. In the webi­nar “Digi­tal Tools,” parti­ci­pants will learn how digi­tal solu­ti­ons create trans­pa­rency, simplify decis­ion-making proces­ses and profes­sio­na­lize asset manage­ment. Experts from c‑alm and KENDRIS will present the latest compa­ri­son, report­ing and control­ling tools and show where digi­ta­liza­tion offers real added value – and where there are limits.

Free webi­nar
Part of the webi­nar series “Invest­ment manage­ment digi­tal”
With experts from c‑alm and KENDRIS
16 March 2026, 4:00 to 5:00 p.m.

Regis­ter now (The webi­nar will be held in German.)