The Culture

Fewer assets, higher quality, better performance. Experience has shown us the value of lean, high-performance teams working collaboratively to manage a concentrated, high-conviction portfolio. We’ve greatly reduced the number of external managers we use and the number of line items on our books. That makes it easier to understand what we own — especially in a crisis — and gives us fewer decisions to make. The result is a small, agile team laser-focused on areas where we can outperform the market.

With opportunity, there is always risk. We’ve instilled that truism into our team members, and now we think of ourselves as risk managers, not asset managers. To bridge perspectives among asset classes, we speak the same “risk language.” From our partners, we demand transparency into the assets we hold, which allows us to assess the risks we’re taking across all our portfolios. We don’t just measure risk, we manage it with a forward-looking approach. That’s why we understand that risk is dynamic, human, and long-term.

Know what you own, well. We construct our portfolios from a concentrated set of assets that we understand deeply, as opposed to many assets that we would be hard pressed to describe to our mothers. By limiting the number of investments in our portfolios, we believe we can reduce risk and increase returns.

Building a culture of innovation means opening minds and sometimes charting new paths toward performance. We think like entrepreneurs, celebrating the wins and learning from the flops. Our innovation mindset — a rarity among institutional investors — means we incubate and validate ideas and find creative ways to leverage our UC competitive advantages.

We are always on the look-out for opportunities that others might not have noticed or simply passed by. That’s why it’s critical to build knowledge – through connections, collaborations, and the occasional deep dive into research – that can give us an edge. We’re fortunate to operate within one of the world’s most knowledge-rich university systems and we’re delighted to capitalize on that.

We’re a collaborative bunch. And we realize that to be successful, we must attract the highest-caliber people aligned with that culture of honesty, humility and respect. We put people first, not lone wolves. We prize diversity of thought and background and share the University of California’s core values. That makes it an honor, and pleasure, to work in service of the university’s long-term investment goals.

We are integrated within one of the world’s premier public research universities. We manage its money, while its students, faculty, staff and alumni discover and create. This unparalleled innovation ecosystem is a steady source of high-quality investment opportunities we can mine, while its people — including world-class experts in every discipline and field — offer knowledge and insights that bolster our success.

As long-term investors, we choose our partners with particular care. Without trust and transparency, a long-term relationship won’t work. Costs matter, of course. If external managers won’t provide us with a detailed accounting of how they make their money from our money, we pull our capital and walk. Perfect alignment means win-win — in performance, collaboration and goals — and the costs tend to take care of themselves. By demanding complete transparency, which gives us understanding of our risks, we avoid a misalignment of interests and relationships cut short.

With a small team investing large sums of money, we rely on technology to gather data that drives our returns and blends our human intelligence with artificial intelligence and machine learning. The synergy makes us better, faster, and smarter. We’re just a short drive from Silicon Valley and fully recognize the benefits, and near limitless future, of tech. Now, we’re working with innovative companies to better understand and manage our portfolios and gain more access to unique opportunities around the world.

We think of ourselves as an organization that invests for the next 100 years. We’re not in this to make a quick buck. Instead, we are always mindful of our fiduciary duty to help ensure the success of the University of California for generations to come. Our centennial orientation means our decision-making considers the long-term, fundamental challenges and risks facing society such as climate change, human rights, and corporate governance.