NEW ORLEANS – Tulane University has appointed Richard Chau as its new chief investment officer. Chau, who officially began his appointment on May 11, oversees Tulane’s Investment Management Office, which is responsible for managing the university’s endowment and related long-term investment assets. The endowment provides support for current and prospective students. Chau replaces longtime CIO Jeremy Crigler, who retired last fall.
Chau joined Tulane’s endowment office in 2013 and has been responsible for building and managing the endowment’s private equity and real assets portfolios. Outside of his asset class responsibilities, Chau also contributed to the endowment’s overall investment strategy and policy, asset allocation, portfolio construction, reporting, risk management, cash planning and liquidity management.
“I’m pleased that Richard will be assuming the permanent CIO position, and I look forward to working with him and his team on furthering the remarkable momentum of our great university,” said Patrick Norton, Tulane’s senior vice president and chief operating officer. “Our 10-year endowment performance has consistently been in the top quartile of all universities in the country, and Richard has played a large part in that success.”
Before Tulane, Chau was a vice president at Bessemer Trust, where he helped manage multi-billion-dollar private equity and venture capital portfolios. A native of Lincoln, Mass., Chau received his bachelor’s degree in economics and Chinese from Williams College, where he was an All-American performer as a hammer and discus thrower on the track and field team. Chau earned his MBA from Columbia University.
