Carnegie Corporation of New York President Vartan Gregorian today announced that Meredith Jenkins and Kim Lew have been designated Co-Chief Investment Officers and Vice Presidents responsible for the investment management and oversight of the foundation’s nearly $3 billion endowment. Meredith Jenkins and Kim Lew, both members of the Corporation’s investment staff, succeed Ellen Shuman who stepped down from her position as Vice President and Chief Investment Officer in July.
Meredith Jenkins and Kim Lew will each serve as members of the Corporation’s senior leadership team working closely with the Investment Management Committee of the Board. As Co-Chief Investment Officers, Ms. Jenkins and Ms. Lew are expected to protect and grow the Corporation’s investment portfolio in a manner consistent with the Corporation’s explicit risk-return preferences.
The appointments were unanimously approved by a special Investment Leadership Selection Committee established by Vartan Gregorian and chaired by Geoffrey T. Boisi, Chair of Carnegie Corporation’s Investment Committee.
"Meredith and Kim share a deep understanding of Carnegie Corporation’s programmatic priorities and have the investment know-how to fulfill those ambitions,” said Gregorian. “Their keen and complementary investment management strengths have served the foundation well. Kim and Meredith offer the ideal mix of expertise during a period when the international economy demands deep hour-by-hour knowledge of increasingly complex markets but with an ability to maintain a focus on the long-term.”
“Meredith Jenkins and Kim Lew have been key contributors to much of the recent success of Carnegie Corporation’s investment office” said Boisi. “We are delighted that they have agreed to step into this critical leadership position and pleased that we can continue to count on their sound judgment and effective performance.”
Meredith Jenkins began her career at the Corporation as the investment team’s first Investment Associate 12 ½ years ago and has been an integral part of every aspect of the build-out of the Corporation’s investment capability from the beginning. She was promoted to Senior Investment Associate in August 2000 and then to Director of Private Equity in August 2004. In July 2007, Ms. Jenkins relocated to Hong Kong for family reasons and became a consultant for the Corporation. In that role, Ms. Jenkins served as Carnegie Corporation’s special representative in Hong Kong, focusing on investment opportunities in Asia, including China, Japan, India, Southeast Asia and Australia. She was responsible for keeping abreast of both public and private equity strategies, and manager relationships in the region while continuing active involvement as a member of our investment leadership team. Meredith and her family plan to return to New York.
“I am thrilled to share leadership responsibilities and look forward to building on this office’s long record of success,” said Jenkins.
Kim Lew was hired by the Corporation in June 2007 as Director of Investments. In that role, she has been responsible for contributing to the management of the Corporation’s assets, directing the strategy for private equity investing, analyzing and managing the secondary sale of private assets to upgrade the portfolio’s quality and manage exposure, as well as mentor and develop the Investment Department analysts. Prior to her employment at the Corporation, Ms. Lew worked at the Ford Foundation for 13 years, starting out as an Equity Analyst, and later promoted to Senior Equity Analyst, Portfolio Strategist and then moved from the public to the private equity side as Manager of Private Equity Investments in June 2000.
“It is a great honor to assume this leadership position and to continue to work with the investment office’s superb staff,” said Lew.
Carnegie Corporation of New York is a philanthropic foundation created by Andrew Carnegie in 1911 to do "real and permanent good in this world."