Recently Published 

Discover the latest insights and analysis in our recently published articles. As the market landscape continues to evolve, we are committed to providing you with the insights and strategies necessary to make informed investment decisions.

Innovest in the Media

2025

Direct Indexing: A Modern Approach to Customized Investment Strategies

By Sloan Smith and Matthew Foster | Published in Family Office Magazine

In this article Sloan Smith and Matthew Foster explore the advantages and disadvantages of implementing direct indexing and offer insights into the future of portfolio management.

The Power of Spend Down Funds

By Christian O’Dwyer and John Walsh | Published in The NonProfit Times

One of the main reasons to set up a spend-down fund is to address causes that require more immediate attention. Some donors are opting to reap the fruits of their gifts while experiencing their impact.

Should Investors Worry About the Lack of Private Equity Distributions?

By Sloan Smith and Natalie Miller | Published by Financial Advisor Magazine

Since the beginning of 2022, the private equity market has gone through a transition. With the dramatic rise in interest rates, private equity firms, which typically borrow significant amounts of capital, had to reevaluate not only what were the best businesses to purchase but, importantly, how they were going to sell their current underlying portfolio companies

Innovest Named a Best Place to Work by Pensions & Investments

Innovest was named a 2024 Best Place to Work in Money Management by Pensions & Investments for the tenth time in eleven years. (2014, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024).

The Bond Market Update: What You Need to Know

By Steven Fraley and Austin Cleveland | Published in Advisor Perspectives

Congratulations to baby boomers for hitting the investment scenario lottery! You weathered both the dot-com bubble of the early 2000s and the global financial crisis, each of which presented opportunities to buy stocks at bargain prices. In the years that followed, you benefited from exceptional equity returns.

Assessing Culture in the Evaluation of Investment Strategies

By Peter Mustian | Published by Advisor Perspectives

While strategy provides direction, a strong culture is the foundation that supports and sustains an organization’s success. Culture influences every aspect of an organization and defines the purpose and values that guide the actions of employees.

Evolution and Investing

By Steven Fraley | published by Advisor Perspectives

The power of changing our minds and adapting to market shifts and evolving landscapes can make us better investors.

4 Principles to Find and Engage Donors in Relational Fundraising

By Paul D’Alessandro | Published by NonProfitPRO

In some nonprofits, there is always a never-ending search for donors, which is like a mythical snipe hunt. In that ongoing search, the big donor for most nonprofits is tantalizingly out of reach. There's a reason for this.

Climbing the Fed Funds Rates Incline

By Peter Girard and Austin Cleveland | published by Advisor Perspectives

Recent increases in the Federal Funds Rate by the Federal Reserve have created potential implications for the economy, financial markets, and investment strategies.

Understand the Seasonality of Major-Gift Fundraising

By Paul D’Alessandro | Published by NonProfitPRO

Fundraising hinges on more than a compelling cause. Knowing when the right time is to maximize fundraising efforts is essential to the fundraising calendar. Just as fundraisers need to know when to make a major-donor ask, it's also essential to understand when to host an event — or even do a fundraising campaign.

The Quantitative Evaluation of Fund Performance

By Peter Girard | published by Advisor Perspectives

Investment offerings will encounter quantitative challenges at some point in their lifecycle. Those issues within the realm of due diligence encompass all measurable aspects that might signal problems from an investment management perspective. These issues should not immediately trigger alarm but rather serve as prompts for the crucial question: Why?

New Fiduciary Rule Stayed by Court as ERISA Turns 50

By Rick Rodgers and Sydney Aeschlimann | Published in TEXPERS

In April 2024, just months before ERISA’s birthday, the Department of Labor (DOL) gave the law an early birthday gift: the Retirement Security Rule, designed to expand protections for Americans’ retirement accounts by requiring financial professionals to act in the best interest of investors.

Building Knowledge

By Sloan Smith | Published in CityWire’s Due Diligence Report

The Citywire Due Diligence Report, contributed by Sloan Smith in September 2024, provides four key benefits of loans provided by private credit investment managers which have become more favorable for investors, Innovest has become more bullish on the asset class.

The Future of Commercial Real Estate: The Headwinds and Tailwinds Going Forward

By Sloan Smith | Published in Family Office Magazine

In 2022, the Federal Reserve increased short-term interest rates at a historically swift pace as a means to hinder inflation. The rate escalation created an interesting dynamic in the commercial real estate market.

The Benefits of Relational Values-Based Fundraising for Nonprofits

By Paul D’Alessandro | Published by Philanthropy Daily

Nonprofits can potentially improve fundraising results by focusing on building strong relationships with donors and aligning with traditional American values.

The Impact of the Nonprofit Donor Revolt

By Paul D’Alessandro | published by NonProfitPRO

Wealthy donors are increasingly influencing nonprofit operations, often dictating terms and policies traditionally managed by executives. Paul outlines strategies for nonprofit leaders to balance donor influence with organizational autonomy.

2024

Seeds of Success

By Sloan Smith | Published in CityWire’s Due Diligence Report

The Citywire Due Diligence Report, contributed by Sloan Smith in April 2024, provides an in-depth analysis of current market conditions, investment strategies, and fund performance, offering valuable insights for those conducting financial due diligence.

Embracing Fiduciary Responsibility for Retirement Plans with Selfless Commitment

By Kyli Soto and Joanne Cinalli | Published by TEXPERS

Fiduciaries have a multitude of responsibilities in both their personal lives and professional roles. The intricacies of fiduciary duties may not come naturally to everyone, making it essential to surround yourselves with individuals truly dedicated to this craft.

Principals Rick Rodgers and Frank Cornett’s article, “Acquisitions and Consolidations in Consulting Creates Landmines,” was published by Advisor Perspectives

Vice President Paul D’Alessandro’s article, “A Call to Action: The Power of Thoughtful Nonprofits and Citizens,” was published by NonProfitPRO

Vice President Paul D’Alessandro’s article, “The Dilemma of Fundraisers Consulting as a Side Hustle,” was published by NonProfitPRO

2023

Vice President Paul D’Alessandro’s article, “Philanthropy 2.0: Why Nonprofits Need a Bold Vision,” was published by NonProfitPRO

Principal Steven Fraley and Vice President Brett Minnick’s article, “Equity Market Concentrations and the AI Revolution,” was published by Advisor Perspectives

Analyst Austin Cleveland was quoted in Citywire’s Due Dilgence Report article, “Fixed Income Functions”

Principal’s Troy Jensen and Kyli Soto’s article, “Should They Stay or Should They Go?,” was published by 401K Specialist

Vice President Brett Minnick and Manager Sydney Aeschlimann’s article, “The Case for Mid-Cap Equities,” was published in Financial Advisor Magazine

Principal Sloan Smith’s article, “Will Higher Cash Returns Hurt Hedge Fund Managers?,” was published in Family Office Magazine

Paul D’Alessandro, Innovest Vice President, had his article, “Why Disaster Preparedness is a Critical Imperative for Every Nonprofit - Regardless of Mission,” published by NonprofitPro

The Denver Business Journal announced Principal Christian O’Dwyer’s return to Innovest in the People on The Move Section

Principal Sloan Smith and Lead Senior Analyst Cos Braswell’s article, “Private Debt - the Appeal After Bank Failure,” was published by Advisor Perspectives

Vice President, Frank Cornett’s article, “What Cyclical Markets Mean to Clients,” was published by Financial Advisor Magazine

“The End of Traditional Fundraising Jobs and What to Do About It,” by Vice President, Paul D’Alessandro, was published by NonprofitPro

Innovest CEO Richard Todd’s article, “Investors: Beware the Wall Street sales culture,” was published in the Denver Business Journal

Paul D’Alessandro, Innovest Vice President, had his article, “Why Wealthy Donors are Distancing Themselves from Nonprofits,” published by NonprofitPro

The Denver Business Journal included Innovest Vice President Jason Romero in their “People on the Move” section

Principal, Steven Fraley, CFA, MBA, was quoted in Citywire.com’s 2023 Due Diligence Report

Paul D’Alessandro, Innovest Vice President, had his article, “The Donor-Centered Approach to Major Gift Fundraising,” published by NonprofitPro

Principal Steven Fraley and Vice President Nancy Rimington’s article, “Hard Landing, Soft Landing, or No Landing at All?” was published by Advisor Perspectives

Innovest CEO Rich Todd’s article, “The Benefits of Stewardship Culture,” was published on Amphil’s Philanthropy Daily blog

President, Principal, & Co-founder, Wendy Dominguez was interviewed for PLANSPONSOR’s article, “Employers Discuss Why They Use Vendor Search Consultants”

“Is a Case Statement Essential to Fundraising Success?” by Innovest Vice President, Paul D’Alessandro was published in NonprofitPro

Principal Sloan Smith’s article, “Hot Spot: Private Equity Secondaries” was published in the Citywire Due Diligence Report

Innovest’s CIO services were featured in Family Office Magazine

Innovest Vice President, Paul D’Alessandro’s article, “Why Impact Investing is Better for Social Good,” was published by NonprofitPro

Innovest was named a 2022 Top DC Advisor by NAPA

Innovest Vice President, Nancy Rimington, was featured in PLANSPONSOR’s article, “Innovest Portfolio Solutions fills Retirement Plan Consulting Role”

Innovest Vice President, Paul D’Alessandro’s article, “Demystifying Overreliance on Tax Findings as Predictive of Future Results,” was published in NonprofitPro

Innovest CEO, Richard Todd, quoted in,"13 Pieces of Business Advice that Have Helped Leaders Along the Way,” an article featured in the Denver Business Journal

Innovest Vice President, Paul D’Alessandro’s article, “Donors: Beware of Nonprofits,” was published in NonProfitPro

Vice President Brett Minnick and Vice President Kyli Soto’s article, “Does your 401k Plan Offer the Best Cash Options: What do employers need to know about capital preservation,” was published by BenefitsPro

2022

Innovest Named a Best Place to Work by Pensions & Investments in 2022.

Innovest Consultants, Dustin Roberts, and Frank Cornett, had their article, “Your 7 Point Year End Retirement Check List,” published by 401K Specialist

Senior Analysts Peter Girard and Jack Schutzius had their article, “Consumer Sentiment and the Value of Long Term Investing,” published by Advisor Perspectives

Principal & Director Sloan Smith’s article, “The Success of Alternatives in 2022: Can it Continue?,” was published by Financial Advisor Magazine

Vice President & Director, Steven Fraley’s article, “Following a Strong 2021, 2022 has been a Tough Year for the Global Economy,” was published by TEXPERS

Innovest President, Wendy Dominguez, and Innovest Principal, Rick Rodgers’ article, “Back to the Future? Monetization of the 401(k) Participant Relationship,” was published by 401(k)Specialist

Innovest CEO Richard Todd’s article, “Three classic investing lessons that never get old,” was published by the Denver Business Journal

Principal & Director Sloan Smith’s article, “Real Assets: Potential Alternate Source of Growth and Income,” was published in the Summer issue of Family Office Magazine

Cos Braswell, MS, Lead Senior Analyst and Peter Girard, Senior Analyst’s article, “The Growth of Liquid Alternatives,” was published by Financial Advisor

Innovest Principals Gordon Tewell and Troy Jensen’s article, “Inflation Fighting Considerations in 401(k) Plans,” was published by 401(k) Specialist

Innovest CEO Richard Todd’s article, “Nonprofits: Five questions to help construct your investment portfolio,” was published by the Denver Business Journal

Principal & Director, Sloan Smith’s article, “The Importance of High Quality Manager Access in Alternative Investing,” was published by Financial Advisor Magazine

“Fixing the 40 in Defined Contribution Plans,” by Senior Client Manager Brett Minnick was published by 401k Specialist magazine

Innovest Vice President, Natalie Roderick’s article, “How to Grow Operating Reserves,” was published on the Christian Leadership Alliance Blog

Innovest CEO Richard Todd’s article, “Beware the Investment Advisors Book of Business Model,” was published by the Denver Business Journal

Innovest was named a 2021 Top DC Advisor by NAPA

An interview with Innovest Principal and Director Sloan Smith appeared in the Allocator Sentiment chapter of the Hedgeweek Global Outlook 2022 report

Innovest Vice Presidents, Steven Fraley and Natalie Roderick’s article, “Is Your Nonprofit Considering Mission-Aligned Investing?” was published by the Arizona Society of CPAs

Innovest Principal Steven Karsh authored “The Ups and Downs of the Stock Market,” published in the finance section of Articulator Magazine's 1st quarter 2022 issue

Innovest CEO Richard Todd authored “On-site Due Diligence is Going by the Wayside to the Detriment of the Investor,” recently published by the Denver Business Journal

Innovest President and Co-founder Wendy Dominguez was interviewed on the Faith and Finance Podcast

“Collective Investment Trust Considerations for Plan Sponsors,” by Innovest Senior Client Manager, Brett Minnick, was published by BenefitsPro

Innovest Principal Scott O. Middleton, CFA, CIMA®, and Analyst Peter Girard co-authored “China: In The Red” published by Financial Advisor Magazine

2021

“Managing Concentrated Stock Risk,” by Innovest Principal Sloan Smith, CAIA, MBA, CPWA published by Family Office Magazine

Innovest named one of the “Best Places to Work in Money Management” by Pensions & Investments

“7 Ways to Build a Morally Conscious Investment Portfolio” by Sloan Smith, Principal & Director, and Sarah Newman, Vice President was published in the National Catholic Register

Innovest was named to the 2021 Denver-area Corporate Philanthropists list by the Denver Business Journal

“The Re-Monetization of Retirement Plans with Managed Accounts,” By Innovest Principal Rick Rodgers, and Senior Analyst, Kristin Lee was published by 401(k) Specialist

“Defined Contribution Recordkeeper Consolidation Continues,” by Innovest Vice President, Dustin Roberts, was published by TEXPERS.

Innovest named to PlanAdviser’s 2021 Top 100 Retirement Plan Advisers

"Unprecedented Times,By Innovest Principal, Steve Karsh, was published by Articulator Magazine.

“Considering an investment advisor: Here are the key questions you need to ask,” by Innovest CEO, Richard Todd, was published in the Denver Business Journal.

“Investing in a Rising Interest Rate Environment,” by Steven Fraley was published by BenefitsPro.

“The Dilution of the Retirement Plan Fiduciary,” by Rick Rodgers and Kristin Lee was published by 401k Specialist

Innovest was named a 2020 Top DC Advisor by NAPA

“Why Investors Should Choose Process Over Prediction,” by Richard Todd was published by the Denver Business Journal

“Rethinking Operating Reserves,” by Richard Todd and Natalie Roderick was published by ColoradoBiz Magazine

“Venture Capital After a Downturn: the opportunities and risks,” by Sloan Smith was published by Family Office Magazine

“How Recordkeeper Acquistions Trends Impacts Retirement Plan Sponsors,” by Dustin Roberts was published by TEXPERS.

“Why Creating Income Solutions for Target Date Funds is so Important,” by Gordon Tewell and Kristin Lee was published by 401k Specialist

“Industry Analysis: Defined contribution world is changing - for the better” by Brett Minnick published by Accounting Today

2020

“Predictions, Predictions, Predictions - Process Wins Over Prognostication” by Steven Karsh was published by The Articulator

Innovest Named one of the “Best Places to Work in Money Management” by Pensions & Investments

“Using Operational Controls to Mitigate Fiduciary Risk” by Kristin Lee and Josh Shapiro was published by BenefitsPro.com

PLANADVISER featured Gordon Tewell in “15th Anniversary of RPAY: Innovest Portfolio Solutions”

“The New Challenge for the 60/40 Portfolio” by Steven Karsh was published by The Articulator

“Retirement Planning During a Recession” by Kristin Lee, and Jordan Rice was published by BenefitsPro.com

Innovest was featured in the PLANSPONSOR article, “Important Considerations for the RFP Process”

Rich Todd was featured in the Colorado Member Spotlight by the Economic Club of Colorado

“Defined Contribution Retirement Plan Fees: Lawsuits, Leveling, and Lessons Learned” by Kyli Soto and Paul Nacario was published by TEXPERS

“The Impact of Rebalancing on Risk, Returns, and Recovery” by Mike Corbett was published by Advisor Perspectives

“Considerations for Employer Retirement Plan Contributions during Coronavirus” by Troy Jensen published by NAGDCA

Steven Fraley quoted in Citywire.com article, “Risky Heights”

Innovest named as a Top DC Advisor by the National Association of Plan Advisors

Rich Todd quoted in RealAssets Advisor article, “Roundtable: How will investing by family offices change as wealth is transferred to a new generation?”

Raven Takes Benedictine Mission into Finance - The Gregorian Institute

What You Need to Know About Student Loan Programs and Consolidation by Marianne Marvez was published by BenefitsPro.Com