Located in the heart of Charlottesville, Virginia, UVIMCO’s dynamic team shares a passion for investing and serving the University of Virginia. UVIMCO is proud to secure solid long-term returns to further the University’s mission to be both great and good.
UVIMCO provides investment management services to the University of Virginia and associated organizations to serve the University’s mission. The partnership between UVIMCO, the University, and associated organizations is unique. We all share a love of excellence, strive to be both great and good, feel called to serve the University, and appreciate our strong and enduring roots in the Charlottesville community.
UVIMCO invests the endowment and other long-term funds of the University and associated organizations in its Long Term Pool. A majority of the Long Term Pool’s holdings are in the form of pooled investments and commingled funds, which are managed by external investment managers rather than through direct ownership of individual securities. The Pool also includes fixed income and cash.
UVIMCO’s primary objective is to maximize the long-term, inflation-adjusted returns commensurate with the risk level of the University. The secondary objective is to secure higher returns than the passive policy portfolio, which represents an appropriate mix of diversified market risks for institutional investors like the University. The passive policy portfolio is comprised of public market indices: 75% equity represented by the MSCI All Country World Index (ACWI) and 25% fixed income represented by a blended Bloomberg U.S. Treasury Bond Index.
The policy portfolio serves as an indicator of how the endowment would fare under passive management, while UVIMCO’s returns relative to the policy portfolio demonstrate the added value of active management by its internal team and external investment managers. UVIMCO carefully hand selects managers from around the globe who bring a diversity of thought, outstanding expertise, and innovation to their investment decisions—ultimately increasing the long-term value of the University’s assets.
By generating inflation-adjusted net returns in excess of the University’s spending rate, UVIMCO is providing a steady source of income tosupport the University’s mission for future generations of students, faculty, staff, and patients. Each year, a portion of the endowment value is paid out to support the University’s purpose, and earnings in excess of this distribution build the Long Term Pool’s market value over time. This distribution supports an increasing number of scholarships, professorships, and research funds, and helps expand program offerings and facilities—with the ultimate effect of attracting some of the best students in the nation and world-class faculty to Grounds.
UVIMCO also manages a Short Term Pool for the University and associated organizations to serve important near-term liquidity needs. This Pool offers a way to preserve principal and provide a low-cost, stable, highly liquid, and secure investment vehicle to investors. The Short Term Pool is primarily invested in U.S. Treasury notes, bonds, and bills with maturities of not more than one year, except for U.S. Treasury floating rate notes, which may have a maturity of up to two years. By varying allocations of investment funds between the Long Term Pool and Short Term Pool, investors can tailor an individualized portfolio to their desired risk and liquidity level.
UVIMCO’s team is comprised of investment and operations professionals who are passionate about the University and dedicated to achieving excellence in investment management. We value integrity, collaboration, excellence, intellectual honesty, and diversity of thought. We strive to be included in the top quartile of university endowments through the generation of superior investment returns, maintaining an exceptional reputation, and serving as a true partner to the University.
Board of Directors
UVIMCO’s Board of Directors is comprised of a diverse and distinguished group of industry leaders, who provide essential guidance around UVIMCO’s investment strategy to ensure the continued success of the University of Virginia’s mission.