The long-serving CIO of the University of Minnesota, Stuart Mason, will retire in early 2024, according to a post on LinkedIn. The university is looking for a successor before a more formal transition plan is established, Mason said in an email. Mason expects a selection to be made by the end of the year. A transition period into early 2024 is expected, after which Mason plans to retire.
“I just celebrated 21 years since forming the Office of Investments & Banking at the University of Minnesota,” Mason wrote in the post. “What an exciting period in history to be building wealth for such a great institution. It’s been a great run, but I’ve recently made the decision to retire and am actively working with senior officials to transition from my role as CIO and move on to other adventures in the early months of 2024.” The Office of Investments & Banking currently manages an endowment of $2.2 billion. It also has ancillary functions, such as management of the university’s retirement plans, which hold $6.7 billion in assets. The fund has an operating pool of $1.5 billion, as of June 30, which the office is also responsible for.
The consolidated endowment fund, which Mason oversees, lost 2.6% in the year’s second quarter, while its benchmark lost 4%. The fund returned 11.4% over one year; 14.4% over the last five years; and 12% in the last 10 years, as of respective fiscal years ending June 30. The OIB’s policy benchmark returned 8.2%, 8.9% and 7.7%, respectively.
Tags: Stuart Mason, University of Minnesota, University of Minnesota Consolidated Endowment Fund