Washington University's $7.2 Billion Fund Loses Senior Staffers

(Bloomberg) -- Three managing directors have left the investment company at Washington University in St. Louis since a new endowment chief was named at one of the wealthiest colleges in the Midwest.

Scott Wilson was hired from Grinnell College in September to lead the $7.2 billion endowment. He also brought his second-in-command at Grinnell, Andrew Choquette, to serve as senior managing director at Washington University.

The managing directors who have departed are Pamela Campbell, Mark Newcomb, and Daniel Feder. Campbell oversaw hedged strategies, Newcomb public markets and Feder private markets, according to information that had been posted to Washington University’s website.

Newcomb joined Rock Springs Capital Management as the head of business strategy and talent development in July, and Feder joined the University of Michigan’s endowment in September, according to their LinkedIn profiles. Feder didn’t respond to an email seeking comment. Campbell and Newcomb declined to comment.

Changes are common at endowments when a CIO is replaced. The number of staffers in Washington University’s office has decreased to 21 in the past year as nine people exited while seven were hired, according to a university spokeswoman. She declined to comment further.

Wilson replaced Kimberly Walker, who stepped down after a decade at the end of 2016. The university’s performance has trailed peers, with a 10-year average return of 4.5 percent through June 2017, compared with 6.7 percent for another wealthy Midwest school, the University of Notre Dame, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.

--With assistance from Michael McDonald.

To contact the reporter on this story: Katrina Lewis in Boston at klewis128@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Margaret Collins at mcollins45@bloomberg.net, Mary Romano, Melissa Karsh

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