After conducting a national search for a chief investment officer, Rice University has promoted from within. John Lawrence has been named CIO and president of Rice Management Co., where he will oversee the Houston-based university’s $8 billion endowment.
Lawrence, who had been interim CIO since October, takes over the role permanently from Allison Thacker, who stepped down in September. Thacker remained as a special adviser while the university worked with executive search firm Spencer Stuart to find her replacement.
University President Reginald DesRoches said that Lawrence “has been a key, invaluable leader at RMC for over a decade.” Meanwhile, board Chair Robert Ladd said Lawrence’s “strong track record, extensive investment management experience and knowledge of and commitment to Rice values as an alumnus makes him ideally positioned to lead the endowment.”
A Rice alum who has worked at RMC since 2012, Lawrence will continue the university’s investment strategy, which focuses on maintaining a highly diversified portfolio that seeks to deliver long-term returns while managing risk. As of June 30, 2023, the portfolio’s asset allocation stood at 27 percent in venture capital and private equity, 23 percent in stocks, 20 percent in alternatives, 14 percent in natural resources, 9 percent in bonds and cash, and 7 percent in real estate.
“Rice chose continuity and institutional knowledge over disruption,” executive recruiter Charles Skorina told Institutional Investor. “He’s a known quantity, the board likes him, and he’s a fine investor.”
Prior to joining RMC, Lawrence spent 12 years in public equity investments, including as a principal and portfolio manager at Transamerica Investment Management and a senior analyst at Tudor Pickering & Holt, where he focused on energy securities.
This move from Rice comes when CIO turnover among endowments is higher than normal, with major institutions like Johns Hopkins, Caltech, and UFICO also getting new investment leaders. Rice has also chosen to keep managing its portfolio in-house while an increasing number of schools — particularly those with smaller endowments — are turning to OCIOs, such as Bates College, which recently hired Investure to oversee its $447 million portfolio, and the University of North Carolina, which outsourced its $425 million portfolio to BlackRock.
Rice’s endowment returned 4.0 percent for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2023, driven by gains in domestic and international equities (16 percent), timber (8 percent), and energy (7 percent). The portfolio posted annualized returns of 9.2 percent and 9.4 percent for the five and 10 years ended June 30, 2023, respectively.
