As the United States commemorates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management is sharing “American Ledger, a 250-Year Financial Perspective” from the firm’s investment and wealth management teams that connects founding-era debates over taxation, economic independence, productivity and national investment to the financial decisions facing investors today.

The second quarter officially ended this week. The main story of the quarter was the powerful snapback in markets after the correction at the onset of the Iran war. Geopolitical fears temporarily tested nerves, but rather than spiraling into a prolonged drawdown, equities quickly digested the anxieties and staged a ferocious recovery, with the S&P 500 returning 15.2%.

Every Fourth of July, Americans tell themselves a familiar story: Our country was born in a tax revolt. The Boston Tea Party, “no taxation without representation,” and patriots dumping crates into the harbor, all add up to a tidy origin story in which our forebears rose up because they were taxed too much.

For institutional trustees, investment committee members and board governors, the active-versus-passive debate is often framed through a narrow lens: security selection and manager alpha. However, focusing solely on whether an investment manager can outperform an index obscures the more critical fiduciary responsibility, and this is total portfolio oversight. At the institutional level, active management is properly understood not as a return-chasing exercise, but as the deliberate, dynamic governance of risk, liquidity, cash flow and, importantly, asset allocation.

The 2025 NACUBO-Commonfund Study of Endowments reveals a paradox facing colleges and universities: endowment portfolios are larger than ever, yet many institutions are becoming increasingly dependent on them to support day-to-day operations.

As the digital landscape evolves, so does the nature of cybercrime. For many, the term once evoked images of hackers breaking into computer systems and stealing data. While system breaches remain a threat, today cybercrime more often relies on manipulating people. Through impersonation, spoofed communications and AI-generated content, criminals trick individuals into authorizing fraudulent transactions themselves.

We can frame risks through many lenses, but the most common interpretations relate to insurance to mitigate the cost of low frequency, high severity events and managing the downside risk of investment assets. Most of us insure against losses such as car accidents, home damage, liability risks and unexpected death. A more progressive view of portfolio management frames risk as the likelihood of not being able to achieve your financial goals.

Investors often focus on what they own and how those investments may perform, paying less attention to where assets are held and who stands behind them. Past events, including the very different failures of FTX (2022) and Silicon Valley Bank (2023), have made those questions more tangible. If something goes wrong with the institution holding your assets, what happens next?