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WELLESLEY,
Mass. - Wellesley College today named Jane Mendillo
as its Chief Investment Officer. Mendillo, currently the
vice president for external management at Harvard Management
Company, Inc., will assume her new post in February 2002.
"Jane
Mendillo has an outstanding record of choosing and managing
an investment team," said President Diana Chapman Walsh
in announcing the appointment. "The search committee, which
included trustees, senior staff, and faculty, were impressed
by her thoughtful leadership, her fund management skills,
and her enthusiasm and energy."
At
Wellesley, Mendillo will be responsible for building an
expanded investment office and overseeing the management
of the college's billion-dollar endowment. Wellesley traditionally
has utilized the skills of its board of trustees and outside
money managers to invest its endowment. In the past five
fiscal years, the market value of the endowment has increased
64 percent, passing the billion-dollar mark in 2000. The
general endowment pool follows a complex asset allocation
program with a variety of asset classes. The portfolio is
built upon long-standing, high standards of fiduciary principles,
such as broad diversification and a long-term time horizon.
During the previous year, the investment office was overseen
by Catherine Feddersen.
When
the endowment topped a billion dollars, the college's leadership
reexamined its investment management structure and decided
to build an in-house investment team. "We determined that
an endowment this large and this complex should be overseen
by an expanded investment office, led by a seasoned, outstanding
investment professional," said Lulu Chow Wang, chair of
Wellesley's investment committee of the board of trustees
and CEO of Tupelo Capital Management in New York. "Wellesley
was looking for a top-notch investment office manager, and
we have found one in Jane Mendillo," said Susan Vogt, Wellesley's
treasurer and vice president for finance.
At
Harvard, Mendillo is responsible for portfolio management
of approximately $7 billion in assets, including more than
$6 billion in externally managed investments for the university's
endowment and $700 million in pension and related accounts.
She joined Harvard Management Company in 1987 as an equities
analyst. During her 14-year tenure there, she served as
vice president for private equity and vice president for
trusts before assuming her current position in 1998. She
received her BA from Yale University and her MBA from Yale's
School of Management.
"I
am excited to have the opportunity to build the first in-house
investment team at Wellesley," said Mendillo in accepting
the appointment. "I have been impressed by the college's
leadership team and look forward to working with them."
Founded
in 1875, Wellesley College has been a leader in liberal
arts and the education of women for 125 years. The College's
500-acre campus near Boston is home to 2,300 undergraduate
students.
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