The California Institute of Technology has named Ken Lee from Children’s Health System of Texas its new chief investment officer. In April, Lee will replace Caltech’s longtime CIO, Scott Richland, who stepped down in December after 14 years at the helm.
“It has been an honor to serve as the first chief investment officer at Children's Health during the recent inflection point in its growth,” Lee told Institutional Investor. “In my next chapter, I am excited to build on the successes of Scott Richland's long tenure at Caltech.”
Lee, an Allocators’ Choice Award winner, will oversee management of the Pasadena-based institution’s $4.5 billion investment portfolio. Caltech’s president Thomas Rosenbaum said that Lee’s experience, track record, and idealism made him “a wonderful fit” for the institution. Tim Sloan, who chairs Caltech’s investment committee and co-chaired the CIO search committee, said he expects the institute’s investment portfolio “to continue to deliver top quartile long-term returns” under Lee’s stewardship.
“Today's environment is an invitation to consider how Caltech, and indeed other portfolios with purpose, will adapt to changing market conditions,” Lee added. “I look forward to the challenge of answering that question from inside an organization that was built from the start to tackle tough questions."
During his tenure as CIO, Richland grew Caltech’s assets under management from $1.6 billion to $4.6 billion as of April, delivering $2.7 billion in investment returns. His team achieved 8.5 percent annuaized returns over a decade, placing Caltech in the top quartile of university endowments, while supporting the institute’s mission through strategic and diversified investments.
Most recently, Lee served as CIO at Children’s Health, where he joined during the pandemic and grew the Dallas-based healthcare system’s long-term portfolio from $1.4 billion in 2020 to over $2.2 billion. He overhauled Children’s fund through volatile market conditions, transforming the investment office into an endowment-style operation.
At Children’s, Lee dedicated part of the hospital’s balance sheet to long-term investments without disrupting operations. His team focused on private assets, including venture capital and natural resources, aiming to build sustainable, long-term growth. In 2023, allocators selected Lee as CIO of the year for his work building Children’s investment office during the pandemic.
“We’re grateful for the senior leaders and stakeholders who set us up for success,” Lee previously told II. “They help us protect our corpus and make the right decisions. That’s nontrivial. Not everybody is doing it.”
Children’s Health plans to maintain the internal investment office Lee built while conducting a search for an external successor. The process is just beginning, and a search firm has not yet been officially named.
Before joining Children’s Health, Lee was managing director of Carnegie Corp. of New York, where he and his group managed a $3.5 billion endowment. He also led the New York office investment research group at Fauchier Partners and held positions at Horsley Bridge Partners and Robertson Stephens.
In addition Lee, who is “a native Californian,” also expressed excitement about reuniting with “several generations” of his family.
