# Howard University

Howard University is a Pension Fund based in Washington, United States.

## Overview

- **Organization type:** Pension Fund
- **Headquarters:** Washington, United States
- **Region:** North America
- **Address:** Washington, DC, United States
- **Founded:** 1976
- **Assets under management:** Undisclosed
- **Website:** www.howard.edu
- **LinkedIn:** https://howard.edu

## Regulatory record

- **Reports private funds:** No

## About

The Howard University Retirement Trust was established in 1976 to provide retirement security for substantially all full-time employees of Howard University. The plan operates as a non-contributory defined-benefit pension, with Chief Investment Officer Frank Bello overseeing the portfolio. Governance falls under a board of trustees chaired by Leslie D. Hale, CEO of RLJ Lodging Trust, and vice-chaired by Mark A. L. Mason, CFO of Citigroup. Strategy blends traditional institutional asset classes with opportunistic plays. The trust allocates across buyout and growth equity, venture capital from seed to late stage, distressed debt, mezzanine, natural resources, secondaries, and real estate. Known holdings include a portfolio of mixed-use, commercial properties in Washington, DC — the Bond Bread Factory redevelopment on Georgia Avenue, Wonder Plaza and Howard Town Center. The trust functions alongside Howard's far-reaching physical plant, including its main campus and the Chadwick A. Boseman College of Fine Arts gallery collections. The university participates in the Consortium of Universities of the Washington Metropolitan Area, the National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities, and the Thurgood Marshall College Fund, positioning it within a dense network of capital partnerships. Former board chair Laurence C. Morse co-founded Fairview Capital Partners, further underscoring the investment committee's GP-level expertise. Howard's structure differentiates it through co-location of fiduciary capital with physical university development — the retirement trust and endowment both deploy into real assets that reshape the surrounding Georgia Avenue corridor. This embedded posture means returns are partially expressed in neighborhood-level improvements, rather than purely in fund-level IRRs.

## Sectors

- Real Estate
- Private Equity
- Venture Capital
- Distressed Debt
- Natural Resources
- Secondaries & Special Situations

## People

- Frank Bello — Chief Investment Officer
- Leslie D. Hale — Chair of the Board of Trustees
- Mark A. L. Mason — Vice Chair of the Board of Trustees
- Laurence C. Morse — Former Chair of the Board of Trustees

## Questions

### Who runs investment decisions at the Howard University Retirement Trust?

Frank Bello serves as Chief Investment Officer, overseeing the portfolio's allocation and risk framework. His purview covers private equity, venture capital, real estate, and distressed strategies. The investment committee operates under the Board of Trustees, currently chaired by Leslie D. Hale with Mark A. L. Mason as Vice Chair.

### What investment stages does the retirement plan target?

Venture allocations span from seed and startup through expansion and late stage. The plan also writes checks into buyout, growth equity, mezzanine, distressed debt, and special situations. This range places it alongside multi-asset pensions that treat venture and distressed as complementary liquidity sleeves.

### How is the retirement trust governed relative to the university endowment?

The retirement trust is a separate legal entity — a non-contributory defined-benefit pension plan — distinct from the Howard University endowment. Both share an institutional home at Howard and benefit from board-level financial expertise, but they maintain separate fiduciary mandates. The endowment focuses on university operations while the trust serves specifically as an employee retirement vehicle.

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Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z

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