Daniel W. Cummings – new Managing Director of real estate investments, HMC

Harvard Management Company has appointed a new Managing Director of real estate investments and this is indeed an important step for the company since the position was vacant for over a year. Who is the new Managing Director therefore? Well, he is Daniel W. Cummings, the erstwhile Managing Director at private equity titan The Carlyle Group and it has been learnt that he will join the Company at the end of June.

Harvard Management Company (HMC) is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Harvard University, charged with managing the university’s endowment, pension assets, working capital, and non-cash gifts. HMC is perhaps best known for managing the University’s $34.9 billion endowment, the largest endowment in higher education. The company employs financial professionals to manage the approximately 11,000 funds that constitute the endowment. The company directly manages about 60% of the total endowment portfolio, while working closely with the external companies that manage the rest.

It must be taken into consideration that the very appointment comes at a crucial time when the University officials are moving hurriedly to correct budgets in order to adapt a projected 30 percent drop in the endowment for the fiscal year. It was in month of February when HMC brought to the fore the decision of discharging almost a quarter of its 200 employees, mostly support staff, so as to “re-balance and re-engineer the organization.”

What will be the job of Cummings then? It has been found from a University statement that he will work with HMC’s Chief of External Management, CEO, and real estate team to fill up a “critical and strategic role” for the company “in light of the current global credit and real estate market environment.

Speaking on this Jane L. Mendillo, President and CEO of HMC since last July, came out with high regards for Cummings and showered praises on his “depth of national and global experience,” “sharp eye for anticipating market trends,” and “outstanding ability for developing innovative investment strategies.”