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Mount Saint Mary's University
Mount Saint Mary's University was founded in 1925 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, establishing the only primarily women's Catholic university in...
Mount Saint Mary's University
Mount Saint Mary's University was founded in 1925 by the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet, establishing the only primarily women's Catholic university in Los Angeles. President Ann McElaney-Johnson, who also chairs the Women's College Coalition, governs an institution anchored by two principal campuses: the Chalon Campus in Brentwood and the Doheny Campus near downtown. A transformative $15 million gift from MacKenzie Scott in 2020 underscored the university's recognized role in advancing gender equity and Hispanic-serving education. The endowment pursues a broad investment mandate spanning venture capital, growth equity, buyouts, natural resources, and fund-of-funds commitments. This multi-asset approach reflects an institutional portfolio construction philosophy designed to support over 50 graduate and undergraduate programs. The university's presence extends beyond academics, with commercial real estate holdings that include the Chalon and Doheny campuses, a Hollywood studio property, and an art gallery collection, supplemented by a historic residential birthplace site in Bas-en-Basset, France. The institution's real asset footprint provides an inherent inflation hedge within the broader portfolio. President McElaney-Johnson has deepened the university's institutional network through active participation in the Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities and the Council of Independent Colleges. The operating relationship with Payden & Rygel, a Los Angeles-based fixed-income manager, is reinforced by alumnus James Sarni's position as a Managing Director at the firm and member of the MSMU Board of Advisors. The endowment's fund-of-funds strategy suggests a manager-selection framework that leverages this local investment community access without building a large internal investment office. In November 2023, the university publicly celebrated its designation as a Hispanic-Serving Institution, which positions it for specific federal grant opportunities that can complement endowment returns. Mount Saint Mary's endowment is structurally distinct as a single-campus foundation whose investment program supports a dual identity: a traditional undergraduate women's college and a coeducational graduate health sciences hub. This academic mix creates spending-policy demands different from those of a pure liberal arts college, requiring the endowment to balance long-term capital appreciation with the liquidity needed for health-profession program expansion. The foundation's ability to attract a nine-figure unrestricted gift from MacKenzie Scott signals the governance capacity that institutional allocators look for when assessing an endowment's long-term stability.
General information
Firm type
Endowment / Foundation
Year founded
1925
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Los Angeles
Corporate office
Los Angeles, CA, United States
Additional offices
Chalon Campus: 12001 Chalon Rd, Los Angeles, CA 90049 · Doheny Campus: 10 Chester Place, Los Angeles, CA 90007
Principals
Ann McElaney-Johnson
President
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at Mount Saint Mary's University?
Investment oversight resides with the university's board of trustees and its investment committee. While specific committee members are not publicly listed, MacKenzie Scott's $15 million gift in 2020 (per MacKenzie Scott, 2020) and board advisor James Sarni's presence suggest the process leans on institutional relationships and external manager expertise. The president, Ann McElaney-Johnson, provides executive leadership but daily allocation is likely delegated to staff or an outsourced chief investment officer.
How does Mount Saint Mary's endowment source its fund managers?
The endowment's strategy includes fund of funds commitments, implying it accesses managers through intermediary vehicles as well as direct LP allocations. Board ties to Los Angeles-based investment professionals, including Payden & Rygel's James Sarni, likely create a local sourcing pipeline. Membership in the Women's College Coalition and Hispanic Association of Colleges and Universities may surface additional manager relationships through peer CIO networks.
Does Mount Saint Mary's invest directly or only through funds?
The endowment uses a hybrid model. Its stated strategy covers fund of funds, direct buyout, growth equity, early-stage venture (including seed), and natural resources. This suggests a mix of direct investments, potentially co-investments alongside existing GPs, and traditional LP positions in pooled funds.
What is Mount Saint Mary's relationship to the Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet?
The Sisters of St. Joseph of Carondelet founded the university in 1925 and remain its sponsoring religious order. The university's Chalon campus is named for the order's motherhouse in France. The relationship is structural — the sisters' charism shapes the university's mission — but investment decisions appear managed by the university's board and investment committee, not the order directly.
Did the MacKenzie Scott gift change the endowment's investment approach?
The $15 million gift in 2020 (per MacKenzie Scott, 2020) added significant liquidity to a historically modest endowment pool. Scott's unrestricted gifts often lead recipient institutions to accelerate spending or alter asset allocation; Mount Saint Mary's has not disclosed specific allocation shifts tied to the gift, but the 2026 rollout of a Doctor of Nursing Practice program suggests the university is investing in operating-company scale, which may influence endowment pacing or liquidity requirements.
What real assets does Mount Saint Mary's own outside its endowment portfolio?
Beyond the endowment fund, the university holds two Los Angeles campuses (Chalon and Doheny), a Hollywood studio property, and a residential birthplace site for Mother St. John Fontbonne in Bas-en-Basset, France. It also houses the José Drudis-Biada Art Gallery Collection on the Chalon campus. These assets are held for educational and cultural purposes, not as part of an investment portfolio.
How is Mount Saint Mary's endowment different from a typical university endowment?
It combines a women's undergraduate college mission with an investment program that includes natural resources and a fund-of-funds layer — a breadth of asset classes unusual for an endowment of its size. Its Los Angeles location and Catholic identity also create a sourcing overlap between local entertainment, healthcare, and faith-based manager networks that a secular East Coast college endowment would not access.
Profile maintained by Altss using OSINT (open-source intelligence), regulatory filings, licensed data partners, and verified direct submissions. Read the methodology. Last updated: . Continuous refresh with full update cycles at least every 30 days.
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