Wyoming Hathaway Scholarship Endowment Fund

Wyoming Hathaway Scholarship Endowment Fund

The Wyoming Hathaway Scholarship Endowment Fund operates as a constitutionally authorized permanent fund of the State of Wyoming, dedicated exclusively to supporting the Hathaway Scholarship Program. The fund was established by the Wyoming Legislature in 2005, seeded with mineral revenue, and is managed under the fiduciary oversight of the State Treasurer and the State Loan and Investment Board (SLIB), chaired by the Governor. Its purpose is narrowly defined: preserve intergenerational purchasing power while distributing earnings to cover tuition scholarships for Wyoming high school graduates attending the University of Wyoming or state community colleges. The endowment deploys capital across a deliberately diversified portfolio that spans institutional real estate, public equities, fixed income, and physical precious metals. Confirmed real estate positions include stakes in the Clarion Lion Properties Fund, BlackRock Diamond Property Fund, Morgan Stanley Prime Property Fund, UBS Trumbull Property Fund, and Heitman America Real Estate Trust (public record). The fund also holds a direct equity position in Strive Inc. and physical gold and other precious metals. The strategy favors commingled core real estate vehicles managed by established institutional operators, reflecting a low-cost, risk-aware approach designed to meet annual scholarship obligations without eroding principal. Governance rests with the State Loan and Investment Board, whose members include the Governor, Treasurer, Secretary of State, Auditor, and Superintendent of Public Instruction. Day-to-day portfolio management falls to the Wyoming State Treasurer's Office under CIO Karl Cheng. The Treasurer, Curtis E. Meier, Jr., serves as the fund's primary fiduciary and public advocate. The office participates in professional networks including the National Association of State Treasurers, providing peer access to institutional investment practices and co-investment intelligence. No dedicated external investment staff count has been publicly disclosed. The fund's structural distinction lies in its single-purpose constitutional design — it is not a general sovereign wealth fund but a dedicated education endowment, with its entire payout channeled to a scholarship program linked to academic performance benchmarks. Because Wyoming's mineral revenues are volatile, the fund must balance the pressure to increase scholarship payouts against the constitutional imperative to preserve corpus. This tension makes its investment posture more conservative and distribution-focused than the state's other permanent funds, which can accumulate capital more aggressively.