Beacon Pointe’s Institutional Consulting Services Group was proud to participate in the 2020 Auxiliary Organizations Association (AOA) Conference for the seventh year in a row to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the conference. Held in Coronado, California, the theme of this year’s conference was Celebrating AOA’s Past and Promising Future. The annual AOA conference brings together diverse auxiliary and university representatives to learn and collaborate on topics and issues crucial to their organizations and the California State University (CSU) system. Each year the event has seen more and more participants and business partners supporting the conference and the 86 auxiliaries and 23 campuses that are a part of AOA.


This conference is one of the many resources made readily available by the Auxiliary Organizations Association. The mission of AOA is to facilitate the role of individual auxiliaries on their respective campuses by providing them with the resources and services that enable them to be more effective. Auxiliaries take on an important role on any campus—they are the heartbeat and an extension of a school, helping to provide support, guidance and leadership. Traditionally, these organizations consist of foundations to protect grants and endowments, help student unions and other student-focused groups thrive, as well as run the bookstores and food services on campus.
From Beacon Pointe, Chief Investment Officer Michael Dow, CFA, CPA and Senior Investment Consultant Mike Breller were among industry professionals who spoke at the conference. Their presentation “Outsourced CIO vs. Traditional Consulting: Best Practices for Choosing an Investment Consultant,” addressed the strategic differences between the approaches of an Outsourced CIO (OCIO) service model and a more traditional, non-discretionary consulting service model. As the OCIO consulting service model continues to grow in popularity among institutional investors, organizations now have a wider variety of options, yet very important decisions around the model that works best for their organization and investment/finance committee. Mike Breller used his portion of the presentation to emphasize the similarities and point out the differences between the two consulting models while Michael Dow provided his perspective as a CIO on investment discretion. Throughout the presentation, representatives from campus auxiliaries asked poignant questions concerning their own organizations, the request for proposal process and constructing a portfolio unique to their growing auxiliaries.
Beacon Pointe is proud to once again provide support for our California State University clients as well as auxiliaries within the CSU systems. Congratulations to AOA for a successful 50 years and another insightful conference!
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