18 Jun 08

Michael Moritz

Michael Moritz and Harriet Heyman have donated $50m (over £25m) to Christ Church, Oxford. Under the terms of the gift, Christ Church will transfer an additional £75m of its existing endowment to Oxford University Asset Management, which was established recently to improve the management of the University’s long-term funds. Christ Church’s total stake in the University’s investment pool will rise to over £100m.

The donation to Christ Church is the largest financial gift in the college’s history, and among the largest ever by an old member to an Oxford college. It is a major step in Oxford’s recently-launched £1.25 billion fundraising campaign.

Michael Moritz is a partner at Sequoia Capital, a California-based venture capital firm. He read Modern History at Christ Church in the 1970s.

The money will form a permanent part of Christ Church’s endowment, generating returns which the college can use as annual income. This extra income will fund academic posts, maintain, modernise, and restore buildings, and provide student bursaries.

The donation, which will be invested via Oxford University Asset Management, provides a major boost to the University’s new investment strategy, the growth of which, through consolidation of all Oxford’s collegiate asset-pools, Mr Moritz is keen to support.

Oxford University Asset Management (OUAM), launched last year, manages the investment of the University’s central endowment (around £700m) plus the endowments of those colleges which choose to participate in the fund. It is managed by the University’s Chief Investment Officer, Sandra Robertson, and the endowment fund has an investment committee headed by Richard Oldfield, Chief Executive of investment management company Oldfield Partners.

A further aspect of the gift is an incentive mechanism to encourage giving by younger generations of Christ Church alumni. One-eighth of the annual income will only be released from the fund when matching donations of £3m are made by recent Christ Church alumni.

Michael Moritz and Harriet Heyman said: “This is an expression of our gratitude for the compass to life that Christ Church and the University provided many years ago. The University’s new fundraising campaign was the stimulus for our gift but we are also eager to help the University and colleges improve the stewardship of their endowments. The arrangement forged between Christ Church and OUAM will provide the college with the benefits of a globally diversified portfolio managed by the world’s most astute investment specialists while maintaining the freedom to deploy the income as it chooses. We hope our gift will assure other potential donors to the University’s campaign of Oxford’s increasing appreciation for the spectacular benefits that comes from perpetual and shrewd stewardship of an endowment.”

The Revd Christopher Lewis, Dean of Christ Church, said: “We are extremely grateful to Harriet and Michael for this act of great generosity. Whilst there is a long way to go before we can feel confident of reaching all our financial aspirations, this gift demonstrates  what is possible. It is not just adding to the endowment of Christ Church, but rather making an identifiable difference both to what we can offer to our students now, and to our security in the future. It is a most welcome beginning to a continuous programme that sets out to manage our responsibilities to the joint foundation in perpetuity."

Dr John Hood, Vice-Chancellor of the University, said: “Michael and Harriet’s hugely generous gift is a major step in the collegiate University’s recently-launched fundraising campaign. It also underlines the fact that good investment management goes hand in hand with good fundraising. The fantastic impetus this gives to the University’s investment strategy will further assure future benefactors that their money will be managed to the best effect, so that their contribution to the academic aims of Oxford is optimised.”

Richard Oldfield said: “This is a marvellous donation and also a marvellous show of confidence by Michael Moritz and Harriet Heyman in OUAM, the new investment office of the University. OUAM is aiming to provide, under Sandra Robertson’s leadership, a really professional full-time focus on the University’s funds from within the University itself, and we are delighted that Michael and Harriet have recognised this. More funds to manage not only provides a stamp of approval but gives more critical mass, which is important to getting access to the best investments around the world.”

Sandra Robertson said: “We are delighted in OUAM to have been given this opportunity to work with Christ Church in the management of a major part of its endowment and grateful to Michael Moritz and Harriet Heyman for the confidence they have placed in us. Oxford has formidable resources and we have a demanding investment objective. Our task is to utilise those resources and build a portfolio which is global, properly diversified and invested for the long term.”

Dame Vivien Duffield, Chairman of The Campaign for the University of Oxford, said: “I am absolutely delighted that my North American Co-Chairman has made such a substantial gift in such an imaginative way to encourage others to support The Campaign for the University of Oxford. I look forward to working with Michael Moritz over the next few years for Oxford.”