# Santa Clara University Endowment Santa Clara University Endowment is an Endowment / Foundation based in Santa Clara, United States. ## Overview - **Organization type:** Endowment / Foundation - **Headquarters:** Santa Clara, United States - **Region:** North America - **Address:** Santa Clara, CA, United States - **Assets under management:** $1.5B to $1.6B (Altss estimate) - **Website:** www.scu.edu/fa/endowment ## Regulatory record - **Reports private funds:** No ## About Santa Clara University's endowment traces its modern investment framework to the 2002 appointment of John Kerrigan as CIO, a role he held for 23 years until Frank Tessier's promotion in January 2025. The endowment, built from decades of donor contributions, serves as a permanent capital base for California's oldest operating higher-education institution. Larry W. Sonsini — the Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati chairman synonymous with Silicon Valley's technology legal architecture — chairs the university's Board of Trustees, linking the endowment's governance directly to the region's innovation economy. The portfolio is allocated across global public equities, fixed income, private equity, venture capital, absolute return strategies, and real assets. Known direct holdings include a cluster of commercial properties on Campbell Avenue in Santa Clara and a broader off-campus residential portfolio in Santa Clara County, alongside the de Saisset Museum's permanent collection. The endowment also carries natural resources exposure. The roughly 4.5% spending-rule distribution channels investment income into scholarships, professorships, and academic programs annually. While the fund participates in both fund commitments and direct co-investments, its precise manager roster is not publicly disclosed. With an estimated $1.5–$1.6 billion in assets, the endowment operates a lean in-house team under the Vice President for Finance and Administration, Wilson Garone. The university is a member of both NACUBO and the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities, benchmarking its performance against national endowment peer data. January 2025 brought a planned succession when Frank Tessier, previously the Investment Director inside the office, was elevated to CIO as Kerrigan departed — a continuation, not a reset, of the long-tenured internal management model. The endowment's structural differentiator is its direct real estate portfolio in one of America's most supply-constrained housing and commercial markets. Owning off-campus residential assets in Santa Clara County and commercial properties adjacent to the campus provides a hard-asset inflation hedge that many similarly sized endowments access only through fund commitments. This local direct-ownership posture, combined with the Board's links to the venture and legal ecosystem, gives a mid-sized Jesuit endowment an investment footprint that punches above its AUM weight class. ## Sectors - Real Estate - Natural Resources - Private Equity - Venture Capital - Hedge Funds - Fixed Income - Public Equities ## People - Frank Tessier — Chief Investment Officer - John Kerrigan — Former Chief Investment Officer - Larry W. Sonsini — Chairman of the Board of Trustees - Wilson Garone — Vice President for Finance and Administration ## Questions ### Who runs investment decisions at the Santa Clara University Endowment? Frank Tessier was appointed Chief Investment Officer in January 2025 after serving as Investment Director on the internal team. He succeeded John Kerrigan, who held the CIO role from 2002 to 2025 and built much of the endowment's current multi-asset framework. The CIO reports up through Wilson Garone, Vice President for Finance and Administration. ### How large is the Santa Clara University Endowment and how is it managed? The endowment is estimated at approximately $1.5 billion to $1.6 billion, managed by a small in-house investment office. It participates in annual NACUBO benchmarking alongside national university peers. A spending-rule distribution of roughly 4.5% of assets supports university operations annually. ### Does the endowment invest directly in real estate, or only through fund commitments? Unusually for an endowment of its size, Santa Clara holds direct commercial and residential real estate. Known properties include buildings on Campbell Avenue adjacent to campus and a portfolio of off-campus residential assets in Santa Clara County. The endowment also holds the de Saisset Museum's permanent collection. ### What investment stages and asset classes does the endowment target? The endowment allocates across global public equities, fixed income, private equity, venture capital, absolute return, and real assets including natural resources. The close proximity to Sand Hill Road provides access to venture capital fund commitments, though the specific manager roster is not publicly listed. ### What is the connection between the endowment and the broader Silicon Valley investment community? Larry W. Sonsini, the long-time chairman of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati — the law firm that guided Apple, Google, and much of Silicon Valley through IPO — chairs the university's Board of Trustees. This governance link places the endowment at the center of the region's technology and venture ecosystem. ### What is the endowment's posture on co-investments and direct deals? The endowment participates in both fund commitments and direct co-investments, and its direct real estate holdings demonstrate an appetite for direct asset ownership. The exact allocation between direct and fund-based investing across private equity and venture capital is not publicly broken out. ## Related profiles - [McGill University Endowment](https://altss.com/profile/mcgill-university-endowment) - [Versorgungswerk der Ärztekammer Bremen](https://altss.com/profile/versorgungswerk-der-rztekammer-bremen) --- Last updated: 2026-06-03T20:00:00.000Z Canonical page: https://altss.com/profile/santa-clara-university-endowment Maintained by Altss — https://altss.com — methodology: https://altss.com/methodology