Mark W. Yusko

Mark W. Yusko is an American investor, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist. He is the founder, chief investment officer and managing director of Morgan Creek Capital Management, an investment management firm that advises pension funds, endowments and wealthy individuals. Yusko is a proponent of the Endowment Model of investing, which favors diversified strategies by asset class and within each asset class in both public and private markets.[1]

Mark Yusko
Alma materUniversity of Notre Dame
University of Chicago
OccupationInvestor, hedge fund manager, and philanthropist
Years active1993-present
Known forManaging the UNC-Chapel Hill endowment
Founding and managing Morgan Creek Capital Management

Early career and education

Yusko received his Bachelor of Science, with honors, in biology and chemistry from the University of Notre Dame in 1985. He also received a Master of Business Administration in Accounting and Finance from the University of Chicago.

Investment career

From 1993 to 1998, he was a Senior Investment Director at the University of Notre Dame Investment Office. Yusko left Notre Dame in 1998 to head the endowment office at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. From 1998 to 2004, Yusko was founder and chief executive of the UNC Management Company. Yusko left UNC to found Morgan Creek Capital Management in 2004.[2]

In 2004, Morgan Creek Capital Management, LLC partnered with Salient Partners LP to start The Endowment Fund. After reaching about $3.5 billion in assets, Yusko served as chief investment officer for the Fund until January 2013, when Yusko was removed.[3] In October 2012, The Endowment Fund announced that investor withdrawals would be limited.[4] In 2014, The Endowment Fund announced that investors could withdraw from the fund at significant discounts.[5][6]

Yusko is a frequent commentator on the alternative investment industry and has appeared on CNBC, Bloomberg TV and other major networks as well as in newspapers including the New York Times and Wall Street Journal.[7][8][9][10]

Wealth and philanthropy

The Morgan Creek Foundation: The Morgan Creek Foundation was established in 2005 and receives a portion of the profits of Morgan Creek Capital Management each year. The Foundation awards grants to education-focused, community-based, non-profit organizations.[11] In 2011, the Foundation received the Chapel Hill-Carrboro Chamber of Commerce's "Non-Profit of the Year" award.[12]

The Hesburgh-Yusko Scholars Program: In 2009, Yusko and his wife, Stacey, founded The Hesburgh-Yusko Scholars Program, a four-year, merit-based scholarship and leadership development program, with a $35 million gift to the University of Notre Dame. The Yuskos’ benefaction was the third-largest gift in the University’s history and was substantial enough to land them on the Slate 60 list of the largest American charitable contributions of 2009.[13][14] The Program gave 25 scholarship awards in Spring 2010 and 26 awards in Spring 2011.[15][16]

Yusko has also served on the boards of several North Carolina-based non-profits, including Carolina Meadows, a non-profit retirement community in Chapel Hill; MCNC, a technology and economic-development organization in the Research Triangle Park; and the Weaver Foundation, in Greensboro.[17]

See also

References
  1. "Four Ways to Increase Pension Returns." CNBC. Aired June 22, 2012
  2. "Morgan Creek Capital Management Investment Team". Archived from the original on 2012-01-26. Retrieved 2011-06-21.
  3. "Yusko Out as Investment Chief at Endowment Fund" by Juliet Chung, Wall Street Journal, January 22, 2013
  4. Creswell, Julie (2012-10-30). "Endowment Fund, Run by Mark Yusko, Limits Withdrawals". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  5. "RPT-Endowment Fund offers clients ways to exit after sluggish return". Reuters. 2014-02-24. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  6. "Merrill Lynch Hedge Fund Investors Offered Opportunity To Exit The Endowment Fund With Substantial Losses - Silver Law Group". Silver Law Group. 2014-03-07. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  7. "Most Fund of Funds Don't Add Value: Morgan Creek CEO." CNBC. Aired July 14, 2011
  8. "Morgan Creek's Yusko Seeks 'Protege' Fund Managers." Bloomberg TV. Aired September 20, 2012
  9. "Buyout Pros Contemplate An Industry ‘Under The Glare’ During Romney Campaign," by Michael Wursthorn, Wall Street Journal. January 25, 2012
  10. "Top Hedge Fund Managers Earn Over $240 Million," by Jenny Anderson and Julie Creswell. New York Times. April 24, 2007.
  11. "Stealth funder focuses on education" in Philanthropy Journal. June 30, 2010. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2010-12-20. Retrieved 2011-01-20.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  12. "Chamber Names Top Local Businesses" Archived 2011-09-27 at the Wayback Machine
  13. "Alumni couple creates scholars program with $35 million gift to Notre Dame" from ND Newswire. August 27, 2009.
  14. "Slate 60: Donor Bios." Feb 5, 2010
  15. "The Hesburgh-Yusko Scholars Program Class of 2014."
  16. "The Hesburgh-Yusko Scholars Program Class of 2015."
  17. "The Weaver Foundation Directors and Officers." Archived 2010-01-28 at the Wayback Machine

Further reading
  • Burton, Katherine (2010). “Mark Yusko: What it Takes to Be the Best” in Hedge Hunters: Hedge Fund Masters on the Rewards, the Risk, and the Reckoning. ISBN 1-57660-245-1
  • Kochard, Lawrence and Cathleen Ritterieser (2008). “Invest without Emotion, Act with Conviction” in Foundation and Endowment Investing. ISBN 0-470-12233-1
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