Stefan Strein, the award-winning allocator known for fostering the next generation of talent, is leaving Cleveland Clinic to lead the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill’s $14 billion management company as president, CEO, and CIO. He succeeds longtime leader Jonathon King, who retired after more than two decades at the helm.

UNCMC Board Chair Michael Kennedy cited Strein’s “investment acumen, demonstrated leadership in talent development, and well-established credibility within the investment industry” as reasons for selecting him. Chapel Hill Foundation Investment Fund Board Chair David Carroll said that Strein’s “decades of experience will be an invaluable asset as UNCMC grows amid an increasingly complex investment environment.”

UNC Management Co. is the independent company that oversees the assets for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and five related UNC entities. Strein, who won Institutional Investor’s 2024 Healthcare System CIO of the year award, confirmed that he joined the nonprofit because he is “deeply committed to mission-based organizations that have a positive impact on humanity.” 

Strein is currently CIO at Cleveland Clinic, where he oversees the healthcare system’s $17 billion investment assets and $16 billion in defined contribution retirement plan assets. His last day is April 10. A spokesperson for Cleveland Clinic said it will name an interim leader and begin an internal and external search for its next CIO over the next few days.

When Strein became the Cleveland clinic’s first internal CIO in 2015, he insourced a fully invested portfolio from the incumbent outsourced CIO and built from the ground up a team of 23 professionals. Prior to joining Cleveland Clinic, Strein spent 10 years as CIO for the Annie E. Casey Foundation’s $2.9 billion endowment portfolio.

Under Strein, Cleveland Clinic’s investment office became known for fostering the next generation of talent. Following their work at Cleveland Clinic, former staffers Alex Ambroz, Adam Smith, Sanford Health’s Jonathan Grushkin, and Kelli Washington have all gone on to become CIOs.