Simpson College Endowment

Simpson College Endowment

Simpson College Endowment traces its origin to the college's founding in 1860, making it one of the older permanent pools in Iowa. The endowment supports a private liberal-arts institution formally affiliated with the United Methodist Church. Its board leadership connects directly to the regional business community — Chair Terry Handley ran Casey's General Stores, a publicly traded convenience-store chain, while board member Deanna Strable now leads Principal Financial Group. The endowment deploys capital to fund student scholarships and academic programs, with a portfolio that includes a tangible Iowa real-estate component. Holdings span the main Indianola campus, a commercial West Des Moines facility, and an associated mixed-use real estate portfolio. The investment approach appears to draw on the judgment of a board anchored by executives from Wells Fargo, Nationwide, and Principal Financial — a concentration of insurance and banking expertise unusual for an endowment this size. At an estimated $82 million (Altss estimate), the pool is small relative to national peers but reflects sustained stewardship rather than flash fundraising. The college participates in the Council of Independent Colleges and the Iowa Independent Colleges and Universities Association, signaling a collaborative approach to resource-sharing. Named assets include the Eberhart Student Aid Fund and the Matthew Simpson Society, which likely serve as donor-advised or restricted sub-pools. The endowment's structural distinction lies in its governance overlap with the local corporate sector rather than a dedicated internal investment office. The trustees who sit on the board are active executives, not retired philanthropists — a model that suggests investment decisions are filtered through a lens of operational risk management and regional economic exposure.