George Washington U. Hires OCIO for $1.6B Endowment

Strategic Investment Group has won the outsourcing mandate after a nine-month search.

The George Washington (GW) University has selected Strategic Investment Group as its new outsourced-CIO (OCIO), CIO has learned.

The university’s spokesperson confirmed that the transition of the management of the $1.6 billion fund would begin immediately.

GW Treasurer Ann McCorvey and Assistant Treasurer David Green are to remain with the endowment to support audit management and help liaise with the OCIO.

“This decision follows an announcement GW made in March to take advantage of the broad expertise and experience that a large firm can offer and then conducted an extensive RFP [request for proposal] process to search for a new firm,” the spokesperson said.

Prior to resorting to an OCIO, GW’s endowment had suffered from several management problems.

In October last year, the former director of operations and risk filed a lawsuit against the endowment claiming she had been fired after attempting to expose fraudulent financial reporting.

GW also lost two senior staff members in the last two years amid poor performance.

According to Strategic Investment Group’s website, the Virginia-based firm had $34.7 billion under management.

Related Content: George Washington University to Outsource Endowment

«