SEI Quick Poll: Nonprofits Lack Strong Inflation Protected Investment Strategies Despite Stated Need

Results Show Disconnect Between Goals and Implementation

OAKS, Pa., May 15 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- A Quick Poll released today reveals that while virtually every nonprofit (95%) lists preservation of purchasing power as a key investing goal, less than half (47%) of those polled said their organization currently invests even 10 percent of its overall portfolio in inflation protected asset classes. The poll, sponsored by SEI (Nasdaq: SEIC), a leading global provider of outsourced asset management, investment processing and investment operations solutions, was designed to gain insight into how nonprofits prioritize inflation protection and what they are doing to manage against inflation. Results point to either a lack of awareness or availability of investment tools relating to inflation protection.

"When it comes to inflation protection in the nonprofit space there's a clear disconnect between stated goals and the strategies and measures available to help achieve those goals," says Carolyn McLaurin, Senior Vice President of SEI's Foundation and Endowment Group. "Nonprofits need access to stronger tools -- ones that will provide a more holistic view of how a wide variety of market scenarios impact their portfolios. This will get them to a place where they can take advantage of new asset classes and further protect against inflation."

SEI's research shows that nonprofits continue to use relatively standard measures for gauging inflation movement. An overwhelming majority (88%) of the nonprofits polled used at least the Consumer Price Index (CPI) in gauging the costs of the obligations of their organization against inflation. An overwhelming majority (70%) of the investment committees considered the movements of inflation through "long-term forecasting based on capital market assumptions. More than half (58%) use "historical inflation statistics."

The poll showed that smaller nonprofits, those with less than $50 million in assets, face the biggest challenge implementing inflation protection strategies -- only 12 percent have assets invested in real estate, TIPS (Treasury Inflation Protected Securities), or energy. No one from that group is invested in bank loans. On the converse, the poll showed that educational institutions are the most actively invested in inflation protected asset classes, particularly real estate.

The poll administered by SEI's Nonprofit Management Research Panel, surveyed 51 nonprofit organizations with assets ranging from $25 million to over $500 million. A complete summary of the poll is available by emailing seiresearch@seic.com.

About SEI's Global Institutional Group

SEI's Global Institutional Group delivers integrated nonprofit, retirement and healthcare solutions to over 320 U.S. institutional clients and 470 global institutional clients in seven different countries. SEI enables clients to meet financial objectives, reduce business risk, and fulfill their due diligence requirements through implemented strategies for the management of defined benefit plans, defined contribution plans, endowments, foundations and other balance sheet assets. For more information, visit http://www.seic.com/institutions.

About SEI

SEI (Nasdaq: SEIC) is a leading global provider of outsourced asset management, investment processing and investment operations solutions. The company's innovative solutions help corporations, financial institutions, financial advisors, and affluent families create and manage wealth. As of March 31, 2007, through its subsidiaries and partnerships in which the company has a significant interest, SEI administers $382.4 billion in mutual fund and pooled assets and manages $190.0 billion in assets. SEI serves clients, conducts or is registered to conduct business and/or operations, from more than 20 offices in over a dozen countries. For more information, visit www.seic.com.

    Contact:
    Frank Wilkinson           Jason Rocker
    SEI                       Braithwaite Communications
    610-676-1483              215-564-3200 x 10
    fwilkinson@seic.com       jrocker@braithwaitepr.com

SOURCE SEI

Released May 15, 2007