After years of turmoil at the top, Harvard is reversing its long-standing commitment to managing most of its endowment money in house. The management company will lay off up to half its investment staff and spin out its real estate business.
The near-closure of the small Virginia college is a cautionary tale as enrollment and fundraising challenges increase for institutions of higher learning.
Last autumn, as the financial markets were going into free fall, University of Michigan CIO Erik Lundberg received a gift from one of the school endowment fund’s British asset managers.