Survey: Portfolio Liquidity a Top 2010 Priority

(January 14, 2010) — A new survey reveals nonprofit foundations and endowments believe that portfolio liquidity, definition of fiduciary roles, and protection against potential inflation will be fiscal priorities in 2010.

Four in 10 respondents said they have upped the percentage of their assets in cash reserves, according to the survey by SEI’s Nonprofit Management Research Panel. The study compiled feedback from 103 organizations with assets ranging from $25 million to $1 billion.

“Gone are the days when the adviser’s responsibility ends with the recommendation of managers,“ said Carolyn McLaurin, Vice President and Managing Director of SEI’s Nonprofit Group. “This poll suggests investment committees want more direction and greater accountability from individuals giving them investment guidance.”

While 70% of the respondents said the organization currently uses an investment consultant, 40% of that group said they would evaluate that relationship during the next two years.

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SEI is a global provider of outsourced asset management, investment processing and investment operations, helping corporations, financial institutions, financial advisers, and affluent families manage wealth, according to its company site.

To contact the <em>aiCIO</em> editor of this story: Kristopher McDaniel at <a href='mailto:kmcdaniel@assetinternational.com'>kmcdaniel@assetinternational.com</a>

(January 14, 2010) — Neil Mason, 43, of FRM Capital Advisors, is the new chief risk officer of Harvard University’s endowment-management company, which suffered a record loss last year.

Harvard’s endowment dropped 30% to $26 billion in the year ended June 30, 2009, as investments declined 27%. The university’s loss of billions of dollars was largely due to issues with its private-equity and hedge fund portfolios, leading to cost cuts, a halt on campus expansion, and a review of how it manages and allocates its assets.

Mason will report to Harvard Management Co. Chief Executive Officer Jane Mendillo. He succeeds Daniel Kelly, who started as the university’s chief risk officer in 2005 and joined Union Bancaire Privée last year.

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“We are confident that Neil will be highly effective as we continue to refine the endowment’s risk profile to ensure that it can support the growth and plans of the University over the long term,” Mendillo said in a statement.

Mason earned degrees in philosophy, politics, and economics from Oxford University, and has more than two decades of risk-management and markets experience in banking and hedge funds, Bloomberg reports. He has worked previously at BlueCrest Capital Management Limited as chief executive, in charge of the firm’s risk management.

To contact the <em>aiCIO</em> editor of this story: Kristopher McDaniel at <a href='mailto:kmcdaniel@assetinternational.com'>kmcdaniel@assetinternational.com</a>