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WSU Foundation investment committee
committed to long-term thinking, intelligent
choices and successful outcomes
These past few months in the financial markets have
created a very real sense of fear on the part of many of
our fellow citizens. We have seen fortunes disappear.
We have heard of huge bankruptcies by companies
thought to be impregnable. For the first time in 75
years, people have actually questioned the soundness of
the American banking system.
It is in this environment that your Wichita State
University Foundation investment committee finds itself
and its fiduciary responsibility to oversee your monies
placed within the WSU Foundation. I wanted to talk to
everyone and hopefully instill some confidence that the
individuals who sit on the investment committee have
the very best intentions along with the intelligence and
discipline to weather this economic storm.
I have had the pleasure of membership on the
investment committee for 12 years. I have always
found the people with whom I serve to share a deep
commitment to what is truly best for “our” money and
all those people to whom this largesse will benefit. That
has never been more true than today.
The committee has chosen what I believe to be a
prudent course. We have resisted the temptation to
over-commit assets to hedge funds when they were all
the rage. Our commitment in this area is 15 percent
of Foundation assets. We have also been behind the
majority of foundations in our allocation to private
equity. Both of these decisions were the direct result of
a hesitation by the committee to be a part of the “herd”
mentality that has swept Wall Street over the past
several years. One of my favorite quotes that fits in so
many different instances is, “What is right is not always
popular and what is popular is not always right.”
Over the past few months we have seen the
commodity complex collapse. I am proud to say that the
WSU Foundation has no direct exposure to this area
of the market. Once again, the investment committee
resisted the temptation to “pile on” at a time when we
felt that this area was due for some degree of correction.
Craig Barton ’83, managing general partner for Olympia
Partners LLC, serves as chair of the WSU Foundation
investment committee.
There are those who may have complained that we
were slow to move money to some of the previously
mentioned asset classes. There may very well be some
validity to that argument. I believe that our returns
over the past five years along with the comparison to
other foundations that were more aggressive toward
alternatives will ultimately prove our caution to have
been wise.
This is not to say that we have been immune from
the misfortune that has gripped the markets over these
past several months.
We have seen holdings across all equity classes
decline in value. After years of meteoric growth, our
allocation to international equities has receded. Our
allocation to hedge funds, even though only 15 percent,
has not provided the consistency that was hoped for.
It would be less than honest for me to convey that the
past 12 months have been anything less than difficult.
We take seriously what we do for the WSU
Foundation. I can honestly say that we treat your
money as if it were our own. I hope my comments have
helped to clarify some of our actions. My dad always
said to surround myself with those who are smarter. On
the investment committee, I have.
Craig W. Barton ’83
WSU Foundation Investment Committee Chair