Understand our asset management - Kansas State University Foundation

The investment team manages the assets held on behalf of Kansas State University and its affiliates.

Investments at a glance

Long-term investment pool

$1.019B

The KSU Foundation manages K-State’s long-term investment pool, valued at $1.019B, as of June 30, 2024.

Distributed to campus

$34M

In fiscal year 2024, endowed funds distributed over $34M to campus.

Annual fiscal year returns

8.82%

The KSU Foundation saw an 8.82% return earned on investments in fiscal year 2024.

Focused on the future

The majority of funds invested by the KSU Foundation are permanent endowments, held in a pooled investment fund called the long-term investment pool. This pool is a diversified fund of global equities designed to ensure that future growth is sufficient to offset normal inflation plus reasonable spending. This approach preserves the purchasing power of the fund for future generations.

We honor our donors, and recipients of their generosity, by managing assets based on well-vetted investment and distribution policies that guide our decision making. These assets include: equities, bonds, real estate, commodities, cash and various specialized investments that are primarily held in either the long-term investment pool or the expendable funds pool.

Our team is deeply committed to providing manager research, due diligence reporting and governance that will make Kansas State University successful now and in the future.

What we do

The investment management process is governed by the Asset Management Committee, a standing committee of the KSU Foundation Board of Directors, which is the policy-making and fiduciary arm of the KSU Foundation Trustees. In collaboration with staff and consultants, the Asset Management Committee implements policies that review:

Investment strategies
Investment manager sourcing and monitoring
Portfolio rebalancing

Everyone involved in the governance, research and due diligence of our investment process is keenly aware of the needs of Kansas State University. The decisions we make today will influence future earnings and help advance the university’s goals of attracting and keeping highly qualified professors, recruiting and graduating excellent students, and providing resources that champion competitive university research.

Performance

Our performance has ranked in the top quartile among 800+ college/university endowments and foundations.

Allocation

Learn how separate funds are commingled and invested in a pooled investment fund.

Contact the investments team

Investments at a glance

Focused on the future

What we do

Performance

Allocation

Contact the investments team

Paul Chai, CFA, CAIA Associate Vice President of Investment/CIO

Dylan Zheng Assistant Director of Investments

Matt Smagacz, CFA, FRM Director of Investments

Janessa Nelsen Investment Operations Specialist