Managing the Endowment

Roles and Responsibilities

Middlebury Oversight

The Sub Committee establishes and approves investment policies, objectives, and strategies for all endowment and investment portfolio assets. It also regularly reviews the implementation of these policies and monitors the achievement of its objectives.

Members are Zach Bourque; Caroline McBride, vice chair; Graham Goldsmith; George Lee; A.J. Murphy, chair; and David Provost, senior administrative officer.

The finance team oversees the day-to-day management of the endowment. The team is led by David Provost, executive vice president for finance and administration, and includes Alberto Citarella, vice president for finance and administration, and Derek Hammel, director of investments and treasury operations.

Investure: Portfolio Management

Since 2005, Middlebury has contracted with Investure, a private investment-management company, to manage the College’s investment portfolio. With a combined portfolio of some $18 billion, Investure provides a deep team of professionals and access to investment opportunities comparable to those of larger endowments.

Investure works in concert with foundations and other college and university endowments and helps develop guidelines and objectives, allocates assets, selects managers, monitors performance, and administers pooled-investment vehicles that are available only to clients.

Under this arrangement, the Middlebury Investment Committee and Board remain the fiduciary and are actively involved in making decisions regarding guidelines, asset allocation, and strategic changes in the portfolio as well as continually monitoring the balance between performance and risk. The Middlebury staff manages the day-to-day relationship with Investure.

Sustainable Investing

Middlebury College has successfully incorporated sustainability and social responsibility into its investment operations. Since mid-2019, Middlebury’s investment manager, Investure, has not directly invested any new dollars on Middlebury’s behalf in specialized private investment funds that focus on fossil fuels.

In collaboration with Investure, Middlebury has begun a phaseout of direct fossil fuel investments in the endowment, which will reduce the value of those investments to zero by 2034. You can learn more about our fossil-fuel divestment here.

Middlebury’s Exposure to AFSC’s List of Companies

In 2024, Middlebury students asked the Board of Trustees to state whether the institution’s endowment was invested in 45 companies on the American Friends Service Committee (AFSC) list—and if so, to divest from those companies on the assumption that Middlebury was profiteering from war activity. The board charged the administration with determining Middlebury’s exposure and sharing what it learned with the community. 

The administration’s research showed that as of February 28, 2024, Middlebury’s exposure in these companies represented 1.10 percent of the total endowment through six investments. In August 2024, the Board of Trustees concluded that the exposure was so small that Middlebury was not profiteering from war activity, and therefore took no further action.

The 45 companies: Amanet Management & Systems Ltd.; Asseco Poland SA; BAE Systems PLC; the Boeing Company; C. Mer Industries Ltd.; Cadre Holdings, Inc.; Caterpillar Inc.; CNH Industrial N.V.; Colt CZ Group SE; Combined Systems, Inc.; Elbit Systems Ltd.; ExxonMobil Corporation; Ford Motor Company; Formula Systems Ltd.; Genasys Inc.; General Dynamics Corporation; General Electric Company; Gilat Satellite Networks Ltd.; HD Hyundai; HD Hyundai Heavy Industries Co., Ltd.; Hitachi, Ltd.; IBM; HD Korea Shipbuilding & Offshore Engineering; Israel Aerospace Industries; L3Harris Technologies, Inc.; Leonardo SpA; Lockheed Martin Corporation; Malam-Team Ltd.; Matrix IT Ltd.; Motorola Solutions, Inc.; Northrop Grumman Corporation; Oshkosh Corporation; Palantir Technologies Inc.; RENK Group AG; Rolls-Royce Holdings PLC; RTX Corporation; Sturm, Ruger & Company, Inc.; Tata Motors Ltd.; Terex Corporation; Textron Inc.; Toyota Motor Corporation; Traton SE; Valero Energy Corporation; Volkswagen AG; Volvo AB.

Student Investment Organizations

Students have two ways to participate in the active management of the endowment and learn the skills they will need to become successful financial-services industry professionals.

Middlebury College Student Investment Committee

Founded in 1987 and known as MiddSIC, the committee is the largest student organization on campus. From an initial investment of $100,000, generations of students have invested and grown the portfolio to more than $1 million.

The committee meets weekly to discuss market and macroeconomic updates and trends, briefing members on portfolio performance and presenting and voting on stock pitches. Members are divided into industry groups that also meet weekly. In addition, MiddSIC offers weekly education sessions, including student-alumni panels, workshops, CV and cover letter review, and instruction in financial concepts.

Officers of the committee report annually to the Board of Trustees Investment Sub-Committee. The students get a chance to demonstrate portfolio performance (beating the S&P in most years), explain their investment strategy, and engage in discussion with this group of industry experts.

Research and Investment in Sustainable Equity (RISE)

RISE manages and invests $300,000 of Middlebury’s endowment in socially responsible companies that lead in their environmental, social, and governance practices.​​RISE seeks to enhance society and the environment while maximizing private financial gains through an investment strategy that follows the triple bottom line of people, profit, and planet.

The club meets weekly to discuss news and the markets, the portfolio’s performance, various topics of financial literacy, as well as new investment ideas. The club’s goals are to provide students with exposure to an investment portfolio, educate and improve their financial literacy, and encourage projects that allow them to practice and implement those skills.