The university plans to hire a chief investment
officer, splitting the management of the endowment and
other investments from other responsibilities of the Office
of the Treasurer.
The move comes in recognition of the increasing
complexity of endowment management, both at Johns Hopkins
and at universities across the country, said
James T. McGill, senior vice
president for finance and administration.
McGill said he had been considering the move for some
time at the urging of
William E. Snow Jr., who has been treasurer of the
university since 1989.
"The university's endowment now exceeds $2 billion in
market value, and managing it has become a far more complex
task with the introduction of a number of alternative
investment strategies and the need to oversee more than 60
separate outside investment managers," McGill said. "That
complexity will only increase in coming years, during which
capital markets are expected to produce more modest yields,
and the university will need to adopt even more
sophisticated strategies in order to meet its investment
goals."
McGill said that the evolving demands of endowment
management will require new staff and a full-time
investment professional to lead them. Nearly all the
university's peer institutions have already split the
treasury and investment functions or are moving in that
direction, he said.
Snow will continue to manage both functions while a
chief investment officer is recruited in the coming months,
McGill said. After that search is complete, the Treasurer's
Office will be split and Snow will remain as treasurer,
overseeing traditional treasury functions such as cash
management, external financing, bank relations, risk
management and insurance.
"Bill Snow has served this university remarkably
well," McGill said. "I am grateful for everything he has
done, and particularly grateful for his counsel and
assistance now in positioning the university for the
future."
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