Q: You have managed a 28 percent gain since September 2004, while the S&P 500 has lost 11 percent. What is your secret to outperforming?
A: In these periods of extreme market stress, you’ve got to be willing to be contrarian and take advantage of other people’s panic. There have been great buying opportunities over the last year. We’ve seen some high-quality assets being thrown overboard by distressed sellers who needed liquidity quickly, and we’ve been willing to step into those situations.
At the same time, we were also an early investor during the market’s rise when we had strong conviction about an investment thesis. As an example, diets are becoming more protein-rich in China. We have an investment in Australian farmland, sheep and cattle that’s been a direct beneficiary of that trend.
Q: What motivated your decision to join Perella Weinberg Partners?
A: Perella Weinberg Partners has a much larger team of investment professionals than we were able to build internally at the foundation. They are very experienced and form the basis for exactly the type of investment “engine” that we have been trying to duplicate in a nonprofit environment for years. Joining this team as their chief investment officer and tripling the staff dedicated to managing the endowment for my alma mater was very appealing.
Q: How do you answer concerns that your attention will be split?
A: The drivers that made our model successful — which was really the basis for our strong performance — aren’t changing. My entire staff joined me at the firm — and we are staying in the same offices in the university’s building downtown.
Our former structure worked well, but this provides a number of enhancements — better risk management, more investment professionals reviewing new ideas and monitoring existing investments, and the continued oversight of the foundation’s board of directors and investment committee.
Edited for length and clarity by Aldo Svaldi.
