Hirtle & Co.

Hirtle & Co.

Hirtle, Callaghan & Co. was founded in 1988 by Jonathan J. Hirtle and Donald E. Callaghan, two former vice presidents from Goldman Sachs. They pioneered the outsourced chief investment officer model, offering families and nonprofit institutions access to institutional-grade portfolio construction without building in-house investment staff. Hirtle today serves as Executive Chairman, while Callaghan has retired from active management. The firm allocates across public and private markets, spanning equities, hedge funds, private equity, private credit, real estate, commodities, natural resources, and distressed and turnaround strategies. It uses a fund-of-funds approach alongside direct co-investments and special purpose vehicles, covering stages from venture capital and growth to late-stage and public equities. The strategy is intentionally global, with confirmed allocations in North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East, Oceania, and South America. Sector focuses include healthcare services, edtech, proptech, and energy transition and renewables. The firm operates from six U.S. offices — West Conshohocken, Denver, Scottsdale, Houston, Minneapolis, and West Palm Beach — and structures many investments through its affiliated vehicle, HC Capital Trust, for which R.W. Wortham III serves as Independent Trustee. Hirtle demonstrates an intentional stance on sustainability, having joined the Intentional Endowments Network in 2014. A recent operational marker is the firm's ongoing active participation in CFA Society of Philadelphia annual conferences, reinforcing its professional-network engagement. The firm's structural edge rests on its open-architecture, conflict-free fiduciary model: Hirtle does not sell proprietary products, instead constructing portfolios from external managers. This gatekeeper architecture — paired with the HC Capital Trust vehicle — distinguishes it from asset managers that push in-house funds, making it function as a truly external investment office.