It seems that a career in the medical industry was always in the cards for Scott Pittman, CIO of Mount Sinai Medical System, starting from his college days at Baylor University, when the EMT-certified undergrad rode ambulances on weekends. The equally compelling lure of finance led Pittman to earn an MBA from Baylor in 2002. He signed on for seven more years at the Waco, Texas–based school, first as a lecturer in finance and economics, then as director of investments. He worked with CIO Jonathan Hook (now chief investment officer at the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation) in the endowment office while teaching students a portfolio investing class with a live, $6.5 million portfolio. In December 2008, Pittman accepted the first CIO position at Mount Sinai, the largest health care organization in New York City. There he oversees a $1.6 billion investment pool. At Mount Sinai, Pittman created an investment culture, built out resources and hired two investment professionals.
“Our risk-adjusted return is equally important as our absolute return,” says Pittman, 40, who structured the endowment fund’s asset allocation, investment policy and best governance practices and set strategic goals. The CIO believes in using concentration in portfolio position sizing to reflect conviction and best ideas to build value, targeting alternatives that include music royalties. Alternative assets across all marketable and private investments make up more than 70 percent of the total portfolio.
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The 2016 U.S. Money Masters Click below to view profiles.
| Small Endowment Clemson University large public pension Florida State Board of Administration large corporate pension Benefit Plans, Ford Motor Co. Foundation Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation |
| manager lifetime achievement Dimensional Fund Advisors Small Public Pension San Diego City Employees’ Retirement System Health System Mount Sinai Health System Large Endowment Case Western Reserve University |
| Small Corporate Pension Textron Investor Lifetime achievement Lehigh University Endowment Fund |
