Mark A. Newcomb has been named director of public markets for the Washington University in St. Louis Investment Management Co. (WUIMC), announced Kimberly G. Walker, the university’s chief investment officer.
Newcomb previously invested the public markets portfolio for the University of Texas Investment Management Co. (UTIMCO). Newcomb’s appointment is effective Monday, Aug. 1.
“Mark Newcomb is a sophisticated investor with significant investment experience across multiple capital markets,” Walker says. “His knowledge of markets outside the United States — particularly in the developing world — will keep Washington University’s endowment at the forefront of institutional investment management.”
Newcomb will be responsible for developing and recommending public market strategies and portfolio construction for the university’s endowment, including sourcing, performing due diligence, evaluating and negotiating potential new public market investments. He also will monitor and evaluate WUIMC’s existing public market investments.
In addition, as a senior member of the WUIMC, Newcomb will play a key role in the overall management of WUSTL’s endowment, which, at the end of the 2010 fiscal year, was valued at more than $5 billion.
“I am excited yet humbled by the opportunity to contribute to the success of such a prestigious institution,” Newcomb says. “Washington University has a highly regarded and national reputation for educational excellence, and I am thrilled to be able support those initiatives through WUIMC.”
Newcomb had been with UTIMCO since 2007. While there, he led equity and fixed income investments in U.S., international and emerging markets for the University of Texas System’s $25 billion endowment pools. At UTIMCO, Newcomb added several billion of new investments to UTIMCO’s portfolio, including UTIMCO’s first locally managed public market investments in Brazil, Russia, India and China.
Before joining UTIMCO, Newcomb was a high-yield research analyst/portfolio manager for TIAA-CREF in Charlotte, N.C., from 2005-07. In that role, he identified and recommended high-yielding corporate investment opportunities and created financial forecast models to assess the performance of high-yield investments.
From 2002-03, Newcomb worked as a mergers and acquisitions analyst for Transfirst Holdings LCC in Dallas, managing capital sourcing, due diligence and financial forecasting for the acquisition of target companies in the merchant payment processing industry.
Newcomb earned a master’s degree in business administration from the University of North Carolina’s Kenan-Flagler Business School in 2005. He earned a bachelor’s degree in finance from Texas Christian University in 1997.
Newcomb is a member of the CFA Institute and the CFA Society of Austin.