Lake Forest College Endowment

Lake Forest College Endowment

Lake Forest College opened its doors in 1857 in what is now Chicago's North Shore, and its endowment has quietly supported scholarships and operations ever since. Chairman William A. Lowry, a Chicago attorney and president of Nyhan, Bambrick, Kinzie & Lowry, leads the governance body. The endowment's operations sit alongside a variety of college-controlled real assets, including art collections and rental properties that contribute to the institution's balance sheet. The strategy blends traditional fund-of-funds commitments with targeted allocations to buyout, distressed debt, and natural resources. The Investment Committee draws on professionals with deep public and private markets experience: Doni Fordyce-Urfirer co-founded Stone Key Capital, an alternatives placement and advisory firm, while Robert S. Murley serves as Vice Chairman of Credit Suisse. Life Trustee Daniel Dolan Jr. runs investment management at Dolan, McEniry Capital Management. This practitioner-dominated committee structure is typical of well-governed smaller endowments that source manager selection through member networks rather than a large internal staff. The endowment's reported asset base falls under $150 million, a scale that informs its predominantly indirect investment posture. Administrative oversight comes from NACUBO (National Association of College and University Business Officers), and the college retains academic ties through the Associated Colleges of the Midwest consortium. Beyond liquid and alternative portfolio exposure, the college controls a patchwork of real property — a residential building in Chicago, South Campus student housing, and the Glen Rowan House — plus a permanent art collection held across the Sonnenschein and Albright galleries, including a dedicated drawing collection. What distinguishes this pool is its collision of a conventional committee-governed endowment model with a physical asset footprint unusual for its size. Instead of outsourcing all non-financial holdings, Lake Forest operates a rental portfolio and manages an art collection internally, creating a blended asset base where campus needs and investment considerations intertwine more closely than at a pure-play allocator. The board's mix of Credit Suisse, Stone Key Capital, and Chicago legal talent suggests deal flow percolates through practitioner networks rather than consultant gatekeepers.