Leadership role
Chief Investment Officer
The executive responsible for managing the organization's endowment and long-term investment assets.
Reporting and scope
Reports to the Executive Director / CEO or CFO / Head of Finance, with direct accountability to the board's investment committee. Authority covers investment pools, not operating finance.
Core responsibilities
- Carries out the investment policy approved by the investment committee
- Sets asset allocation and selects outside managers
- Monitors performance, fees and risk
- Coordinates spending policy distributions with finance staff
- Tracks donor restrictions on endowed funds
- Presents results to the investment committee and board
How it differs
The CFO / Head of Finance manages budgets and accounting and may oversee investments at smaller institutions; a Chief Investment Officer is dedicated to portfolio management. Outsourced CIO firms are vendors, not staff.
By organization size
Dedicated CIOs generally appear at foundations, universities and hospitals with large endowments. Smaller organizations rely on the investment committee and an outside adviser.
Filings from the last five years mapped to this role commonly report titles such as: Chief Investment Officer; VP, Chief Investment Officer; SVP & Chief Investment Officer; VP & Chief Investment Officer; Deputy Chief Investment Officer; SVP, Chief Investment Officer