Harvard Management Company will hire Richard Slocum, former chief investment officer at The Johnson Company, as chief investment officer, according to Reuters.
The hire follows months of management shakeup at Harvard’s $35.7 billion endowment. In July 2016, its then-CEO Stephen Blyth resigned after only 18 months on the post. Harvard appointed Nirmal P. Narvekar, the former CEO of Columbia’s $9 billion endowment, as Blyth’s replacement the following December.
Previously, the Harvard endowment’s chief executive and chief investment officer duties were held by the CEO. Slocum’s appointment comes as Narvekar’s latest restructuring of Harvard’s management team in an effort to revive the endowment’s low returns in recent years.
Harvard’s endowment posted a 2 percent loss for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2016, missing its target rate of return by 3 percent.
Slocum has more than 30 years of experience in institutional investing, and he has been the chief investment officer of the Johnson Company since 2011. Prior to that, he was the head of private investments at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and served as director of investments at the University of Pennsylvania.
He was named on Trusted Insight’s Top 30 Family Office Investors in November 2016.
Slocum will officially join Harvard in March, Reuters reported.
In addition to Slocum, Narvekar also hired three more executives to oversee the endowment’s diversification and risk profile; two of them previously worked at Columbia’s endowment, according to a Harvard Management Company press release.
The hire follows months of management shakeup at Harvard’s $35.7 billion endowment. In July 2016, its then-CEO Stephen Blyth resigned after only 18 months on the post. Harvard appointed Nirmal P. Narvekar, the former CEO of Columbia’s $9 billion endowment, as Blyth’s replacement the following December.
Previously, the Harvard endowment’s chief executive and chief investment officer duties were held by the CEO. Slocum’s appointment comes as Narvekar’s latest restructuring of Harvard’s management team in an effort to revive the endowment’s low returns in recent years.
Harvard’s endowment posted a 2 percent loss for the fiscal year ending June 30, 2016, missing its target rate of return by 3 percent.
Slocum has more than 30 years of experience in institutional investing, and he has been the chief investment officer of the Johnson Company since 2011. Prior to that, he was the head of private investments at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and served as director of investments at the University of Pennsylvania.
He was named on Trusted Insight’s Top 30 Family Office Investors in November 2016.
Slocum will officially join Harvard in March, Reuters reported.
In addition to Slocum, Narvekar also hired three more executives to oversee the endowment’s diversification and risk profile; two of them previously worked at Columbia’s endowment, according to a Harvard Management Company press release.