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Sandra Robertson, who has run Oxford university’s £6.5bn endowment fund since it was founded almost two decades ago, is stepping back as chief investment officer, according to three people familiar with the situation.
Robertson, who is currently CIO and chief executive of Oxford University Endowment Management, will give up the investment role as of January next year and remain CEO. Deputy-CIO Neamul Mohsin, who joined the institution 12 years ago, will become chief investment officer.
OUEM was established in 2007 and is one of the largest endowments in the UK. It runs money for individual Oxford colleges, including Christ Church, Brasenose and Balliol, as well as other institutions such as Radley College and the Wolfson Foundation.
The Oxford endowment fund has gained 4.4 per cent a year over the past three years to December 31, hurt by a sell-off in US equity markets in 2022. It is up 9 per cent in the 12 months through July and has gained 8.7 per cent a year since its inception at the start of 2009 to the end of July. It distributed £1.6bn to investors over this period.
At the end of 2023, a third of OUEM’s assets were invested in private equity, with a further 35 per cent in public equities. The remainder is largely split across credit, property, short-term bonds and cash. The investment team has been tweaking its asset allocation at the margin, slightly reducing exposure to managers investing in US tech stocks and private equity, according to a person close to the firm.
OUEM confirmed the changes and said that splitting the CEO and CIO roles is a “natural progression” that reflects how the institution has grown since its formation. Back then it managed £600mn for a single investor, the University of Oxford. Now it manages more than £6.5bn on behalf of 46 investors.
The endowment, whose investment committee is stacked with luminaries from the world of finance, has been run by Robertson since it was founded. Sir Paul Ruddock, chair of Oxford university’s investment committee, is also in the process of stepping down after more than a decade in the role, and will be replaced by private equity executive Zeina Bain.
Two years ago the Financial Times reported that OUEM had lost more than half of its investment staff over an 18-month period, marking a rare period of turbulence at the institution. Departures included the then-deputy CIO Jack Edmondson. At the time, some investors said that Robertson’s leadership style, and frustration with the length of her tenure, had contributed to some of the departures.
At the time, Ruddock said Robertson had “built a very strong team, respected by peers, investors and other members of the investment industry” and that OUEM served as an “engine room for talent”.
The person close to the firm said that the high turnover following the pandemic, which was common to many firms, had now stabilised.
Mohsin began his career as a consultant at PwC, where he specialised in commercial due diligence and business valuations. He joined the investment team of OUEM in 2012 and has been deputy CIO for the past two years.
Before joining OUEM at its creation in 2007, Robertson held senior positions at the Wellcome Trust, the UK’s largest endowment, latterly as co-head of portfolio management.
That £36.8bn foundation is undergoing its own generational shift on its investment team. Chief investment officer Nick Moakes is retiring in March after 17 years. He will be replaced by Lisha Patel and Fabian Thehos, who are currently managing directors of Wellcome’s investment team.