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Corporate Moves

University of Utah Selects Cynosure as OCIO for $1.8B Endowment

The Salt Lake City-based fiduciary manager was selected from 50 potential service providers.
By Matt Toledo



The University of Utah Growth Capital Partners Foundation, a charitable organization which oversees the management of the university’s $1.81 billion endowment, announced on Friday the appointment of the Cynosure Group as the fund’s new outsourced CIO.

“The outsourcing of the traditional chief investment office function—for managing the university’s endowment portfolio—will better protect and grow these investments, providing additional resources to accomplish the university’s mission and goals for future generations,” said David Anderson, chairman and CEO of the University of Utah GCPF, in a statement.

Salt-Lake City based Cynosure manages $8 billion in assets. It works with family offices, foundations and endowments, according to its web site. The firm’s Cynosure Capital Management group is led by Chairman and Co-Founder Randal Quarles, a former vice chairman of the Federal Reserve and former managing director of the Carlyle Group. Charles E.F. Millard, a former head of the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation, is also a senior adviser at Cynosure.

According to a statement from the university, the firm was chosen due to its ability to achieve a five-year annualized return of 14% for similar institutional clients. The University of Utah endowment achieved an annualized 5.9% return over the past 10 years, as of June 30, 2024.

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“There are many factors that contribute to investment success and that had to be weighed when deciding to partner with an investment firm in any capacity,” Anderson said. “The factor that matters most is impossible to measure and that is future investment returns.”

In 2022, the university transferred the management of the endowment to the University of Utah Growth Capital Partners, following the retirement of Jonathan Shear, then the university’s CIO. In 2024, the university began a selection process for an OCIO firm. The director of investments of the University of Utah would act as a liaison between FCPF and the OCIO firm, according to a 2024 job posting.

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Home > News > Asset Allocation > 48 Hours of Market Turmoil Lop Nearly 6 Points off Canadian DB Funded Ratios
Asset Allocation

48 Hours of Market Turmoil Lop Nearly 6 Points off Canadian DB Funded Ratios

In the two days after the U.S. announced new tariffs, the plans lost almost their entire C$18.4 billion surplus.

By Michael Katz



In just two days of market turmoil triggered by new U.S. tariff policies, Canadian defined benefit pension plans’ funded levels plunged to 100% from 105.7%, as their C$18.4 billion ($12.9 billion) surplus all but vanished, according to Aon’s Pension Risk Tracker.

The sharp drop brought the plans’ funded ratio to its lowest level since June 2023.

Data from professional services firm Aon show that the plans’ funded levels had been slowly declining during the first part of the year, losing about 2.1 percentage points between the end of 2024 and the end of the first quarter of 2025. During that time, the funded ratio dropped to 105.4% from 107.5%, but the decline rapidly accelerated at the start of the second quarter.

The two-day nosedive began on April 2, when U.S. President Donald Trump announced sweeping tariff hikes against scores of countries. Since then, the funded level has hovered near 100%, with the surplus falling as low as C$100 million.

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“Due to uncertainty, and in some cases, the imposition of tariffs in the first quarter of 2025, markets were quite volatile,” said Nathan LaPierre, an Aon partner for wealth solutions in Canada, in a statement prior to the two-day plunge. “Pension plans faced significant headwinds during the quarter, but starting from strong funded positions at the beginning of the quarter.”  

Aon also reported that the yield on long-term Government of Canada bonds decreased by 10 basis points during the first quarter from the previous quarter’s level, while credit spreads widened by 10 basis points. According to the firm, the combination resulted in no change in the 4.47% discount rate.


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