17 Jun 08

Michael Moritz, Campaign Chair, North America

Michael Moritz and Harriet Heyman have donated $50m (over £25m) to Christ Church. Under the terms of the gift, Christ Church will transfer an additional £75m of its existing endowment into the Oxford University Asset Management fund, 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. 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 in the Oxford University Asset Management fund, 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 £680m) 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 it 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.

To watch Michael Moritz, Sandra Robertson and Richard Oldfield talk about this gift and asset management at Oxford, please visit our homepage or video library.