24: Jack Edmondson: Deputy C.I.O Oxford University Endowment Management. (OUEM)

Sign up to our newsletter for more in-depth insights | Follow us on LinkedIn

Today we have the intriguing prospect of our youngest guest so far on the Money Maze Podcast, allied to one of the world’s oldest academic institutions, Oxford University.

Jack Edmondson, nominated in 2019 as Institutional Investor Magazine’s 3rd most wanted Allocator in the world, is a CFA Charter holder, holds an MBA with distinction from the Saïd Business School at Oxford and a first-class degree in history from Durham University. He is an alumnus of both Mercury Asset Management and Mckinsey and is an Associate Fellow at the Said Business School and member of the faculty at the Blavatnik School of Government, both in Oxford.

His day job is to help OUEM try to meet its goals as their deputy CIO. Jack describes his background and his work at both McKinsey and Mercury Asset Management and in private equity before moving to Oxford to join Sandra Robertson (CIO) to help build the Oxford University Endowment. Jack describes managing an endowment with its underlying permanent capital and multi-generational outlook, before explaining the investment target of producing a 5% real return per annum.

He articulates their investment philosophy, which involves fundamental research, partnering with specific skill sets and talent, and making investments in both public and private equities. He discusses their current asset allocation, the challenge of finding exceptional managers, the active v passive debate and why he believes future returns will be lean, but also where opportunities may lie. Jack discusses thematic investing and the traps of excessive reliance on Macro forecasts to drive investment decisions, before explaining why Oxford as a location offers some distinct advantages over cities like London. He also explains that OUEM manages money for some long-term orientated pools of capital and also the relationship with the University.

Finally, Jack reflects with straightforward honesty on investing mistakes he has made and life lessons learnt, as well as offering advice to those starting out in the business.