Harvard (the SMU of New England) Endowment

[Cheesesteak]

October 14, 2005 The New York Times
Harvard Names New Head of $25.9 Billion Fund
By MARIA NEWMAN

Harvard University announced today that it had hired Mohamed A. El-Erian, a managing director at the Pacific Investment Management Company, to head its endowment fund, the largest of any university.

Mr. El-Erian succeeds Jack R. Meyer, the hugely successful fund manager for Harvard, who stepped down Sept. 30 after criticism about the multimillion-dollar salaries he and other senior managers were receiving.

When Mr. Meyer took over the Harvard fund in 1990, it was worth $5 billion, and in June of this year, it was valued at $25.9 billion, with growth far outpacing any other university fund. In fiscal year 2005, the fund achieved a total return of 19.2 percent, Harvard officials said today.

Mr. Meyer left to start his own money management firm.

Mr. El-Erian, 47, is a senior member of Pacific Investment's portfolio management and investment strategy group. He will take over as president and chief executive of the Harvard Management Company in early 2006, the fund's board announced.

"Harvard's endowment is critical to the university's academic and financial aid programs and to its capacity for growth," Lawrence H. Summers, president of Harvard University, said in a statement. He said that under Mr. El-Erian's leadership, "the endowment will continue to be overseen and invested with the highest level of professionalism and expertise."

Mr. El-Erian said he was "delighted to be coming to Harvard and to have the opportunity to play a significant role in the life and growth of this university."

"At Harvard Management Company, I join a strong, vibrant and innovative organization," he said in the statement.

James F. Rothenberg, treasurer of Harvard University and chairman of the Harvard Management Company's board, said that in his six and a half years at Pacific Investments, Mr. El-Erian "has emerged as a savvy investor with a particular knack for identifying opportunities in complex markets, while developing a reputation as a strong and articulate leader."

"His engagement with the broader economic community provides Mohamed with perspective on global markets and the role of capital throughout the world," he said.

Mr. Summers acknowledged the accomplishments of Mr. Meyer.

"The contributions to Harvard by Jack and the H.M.C. team over these past 15 years have been nothing short of remarkable," he said. "Generations of Harvard students and faculty will benefit from the investment successes they achieved."

Mr. El-Erian earned a B.A. in economics from Cambridge University and doctoral and master's degrees in economics from Oxford University.

In addition to becoming president and chief executive of the Harvard fund, Mr. El-Erian will also serve as a member of the faculty of Harvard Business School and as deputy treasurer of the university, providing advice to the president, chief financial officer and other administrators about the management of the university's financial resources.