While several endowments saw high-profile leadership changes over the past year, none were more notable than Matthew S. T. Mendelsohn assuming the role of Yale University's chief investment officer after the New Haven, Conn.-based university's longtime CIO David F. Swensen died in May from cancer.
Mr. Mendelsohn has some big shoes to fill. Mr. Swensen, who was CIO of the university's $42.3 billion endowment for more than 35 years, was known for developing the "Yale model" of investing, which wound up becoming the standard for many universities and endowments. The Yale model focused less on traditional stocks and bonds and more on illiquid assets like private equity, hedge funds and venture capital.
Mr. Mendelsohn, a Yale graduate who has worked at the university's investments office since 2007, was a director overseeing the endowment's venture capital portfolio, which makes up more than a quarter of the endowment.
Yale University's endowment posted a net return of 40.2% for the fiscal year ended June 30.
Mr. Mendelsohn declined to be interviewed.
Nolan M. Bean, head of institutional investments at Fund Evaluation Group LLC, Cincinnati, said there was likely no coincidence that it was Yale's head of venture capital that succeeded the late Mr. Swensen.
"The large returns that we've seen of private investments, and venture capital in particular, has made that skill set incredibly in demand, and you will see that continue," he said. "That will be a very high criterion for any new CIO searches in the future."
Other universities saw changes in leadership in the past year as well, including the University of Chicago. Mark A. Schmid, the university's vice president and CIO who oversaw its $10 billion endowment, retired in September. He was succeeded by Andrew T. Ward, who like Mr. Schmid, joined the university from Boeing Co., Chicago.
A carousel of changes began with the departure last October of William H. McLean as vice president and CIO of Northwestern University to become president and chief investment officer of Spider Management Co., which oversees the $2.4 billion endowment for the University of Richmond, Richmond, Va.
Replacing Mr. McLean to oversee the Evanston, Ill.-based university's $12.2 billion long-term pool of endowment assets was Amy C. Falls, who oversaw New York-based Rockefeller University's $2.3 billion endowment as CIO. Replacing Ms. Falls at Rockefeller was Paula Volent, CIO of Bowdoin College, Brunswick, Maine, who had been overseeing that institution's $1.8 billion endowment. K. Niles Bryant, Bowdoin's director of investments, replaced Ms. Volent, who had been CIO since 2000. Bowdoin's annualized return for the 10 years ended June 30 was 14.5%, the highest among all endowments tracked by Pensions & Investments.
Also, at Tulane University, New Orleans, Richard Chau replaced the retiring Jeremy Crigler. Mr. Chau had been previously responsible for the $1.4 billion endowment's private equity and real assets portfolio. Mr. Chau said in an interview he often steps back and thinks how incredible it is to be in his position.
"My family, we were refugees from Cambodia, so we literally came here with nothing," Mr. Chau said. "It's been a pretty wild journey and to think that they would be willing to have someone like me come in here and give me the responsibility to manage the endowment is pretty incredible to think about."
