VCU news

By Mike Porter

Virginia Commonwealth University has announced the formation of the VCU Investment Management Company, an independent 501(c)(3) foundation to advise the university and its affiliated foundations on the management of its assets.

Approved by the VCU Board of Visitors in May and the VCU Health Board of Directors in June, the VCU Investment Management Company will provide investment and investment management services for VCU, VCU Health and affiliated entities.

The VCIMCO board consists of 11 members with extensive experience in financial services and investment management. 

VCU alumna Nancy Everett was named as CEO and chief investment officer. She had previously served as a senior adviser at Lombard Odier Investment Management, managing director and head of U.S. fiduciary management at BlackRock, CEO of Promark Global Advisors and had served for 26 years with Virginia Retirement System, including four years as chief investment officer. 

“I am honored to be a part of this important milestone in VCU’s evolution,” Everett said. “The creation of the VCU Investment Management Company represents industry best practices in the financial stewardship of the university’s assets. Our role is to work with VCU and its affiliates to provide the financial stability necessary to fulfill its mission and to help it grow and prosper for generations to come.”  

William Lee was named chief operating officer. Lee brings 18 years of experience in financial services and alternative investing. Prior to joining VCIMCO, Lee was a managing director, chief financial officer and chief compliance officer at Summit Rock Advisors in New York.

Bob Hill was appointed deputy chief investment officer. Hill previously served as executive vice president, co-chief investment officer at Piedmont Investment Advisors and was CEO/CIO at Shenandoah Asset Management, which he co-founded in 1999.

Bruce MacDonald was named managing director. MacDonald previously served as the chief investment officer and managing partner at Crayna Capital, an advisory firm he founded. He also spent several years at the University of Virginia Investment Management Company as chair of the investment committee.

Cameron McLennan was appointed director. Prior to joining VCIMCO, McLennan was a quantitative equity portfolio manager at Piedmont Investment Advisors and before that he worked at Shenandoah Asset Management and Virginia Retirement System.

Investing activities by VCIMCO are to begin in early 2016. VCU, VCU Health and affiliated entities have a combined total of more than $2 billion of investable assets. VCIMCO's primary objective in managing the assets is to maximize long-term real return commensurate with the risk tolerance of the VCU entities. VCIMCO will actively manage the assets to achieve investment returns that consistently exceed the returns on a passively managed benchmark with similar asset allocation and risk that compare favorably with the returns of endowments of other higher education institutions.