New Hanover Community Endowment in Wilmington, N.C., hired BlackRock as its sole outsourced chief investment officer, or OCIO, to manage $1.1 billion in assets for the newly created community endowment, BlackRock said Wednesday.
The endowment was formed in 2020 after the sale of the Hanover County-owned New Hanover Regional Medical Center to Novant Health. Several managers competed for the endowment's RFP, and it ultimately selected BlackRock.
William Buster, CEO and president of NHCE, has spent more than two decades working for non-profits and told Pensions & Investments the endowment was special because of its size relative to its community of more than 230,000 residents it will serve.
"As one of the largest endowments in North Carolina, we have a unique opportunity and responsibility to meaningfully improve the lives of New Hanover residents," Mr. Buster said.
"In BlackRock, we've identified an asset manager that shares our unwavering commitment to help secure the financial future of the endowment."
BlackRock showed a willingness to do some hand-holding and guide NHCE through establishing its investment portfolio and managing it going forward, Mr. Buster said.
Aladdin, BlackRock's software that includes portfolio management, trading, risk management and other tools, was also among the selling points for why the endowment chose BlackRock.
Some rival prospective managers used Aladdin in their presentations to NHCE, causing one endowment board member to ask them why they shouldn't just choose BlackRock, Mr. Buster said.
The portfolio will be managed by BlackRock's OCIO group, which includes about 150 professionals with their own expertise in portfolio management, trading and servicing clients. Within the OCIO, there are about a dozen professionals who specialize in endowments, foundations and health-care systems.
"This endowment is a big deal here. It is a huge deal for the region. Nothing like it exists anywhere else," Mr. Buster said.
An opportunity to manage a new $1.1 billion endowment — especially with no legacy alternative investments — is uncommon, according to Jeff Saef, managing director and head of the Americas region for multiasset strategies and solutions at BlackRock.
"It happens, but it's fairly infrequent," Mr. Saef said.
The NHCE's portfolio will be akin to other endowments, targeting a 5% annual return with a mix of equities, fixed income and alternative investments.
It will be a mix of passive and active funds from BlackRock as well as other "best in class" asset managers, Mr. Saef said. He declined to share more details about the portfolio.
