University of Colorado Gets New Investment Chief

The University of Colorado has hired a Miami school district treasurer as chief investment officer for its $2 billion CU Foundation.

Tony Vu, treasurer and assistant superintendent of Miami-Dade County Public Schools, has been appointed as the University of Colorado’s treasurer, CIO, and associate vice president of budget and finance, the schoolannouncedDecember 17 in its online news publication. Vu will be responsible for managing the university’s banking activities and $1.8 billion in issued debt, along with managing the $2 billion of endowment assets.

“Tony Vu’s expertise and experience make him an excellent choice for the university’s treasurer role,” CU regent Sue Sharkey, who co-chaired the search committee, said in the announcement. “We’re delighted to have someone of his caliber leading this important part of our operation.”

Vu replaces Dan Wilson, who is retiring after five years as the university’s treasurer. Vu, who previously served as university treasurer for the Florida International University, will start in his new role on January 19.

“I’m thrilled and humbled to join an organization that is not only one of the top public research universities in the country, but one with a world-class team managing its finances,” Vu said in the announcement. “I look forward to bringing my skills and experience to bear to help CU emerge from the pandemic and thrive in the years ahead.”

The CU Foundation came into the spotlight this summer when a major university donor and three recent graduatessuedover its “expensive, fee-laden, actively managed, and alternative-investment-dependent investments,” as they described in legal filings.

[IIDeep Dive:A University Endowment Got Sued for Lagging the S&P 500. Now, It’s Fighting Back.]

The suit claimed that the university would have been better off investing in Vanguard Group’s S&P 500 index tracker, which charges almost nothing in fees and replicates the movement of large U.S. stocks.

但大学奋起反击,铜的基础president and chief executive officer Jack Finlaw tellingIIin October that “active-versus-passive is a matter for conversation, but not really a matter for the courts.”

That same month, the suit waspermanently dismissedby a Colorado judge.