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

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.