How Fordham Invests Its $1B Endowment

Podcast: How I Invest with David Weisburd
Episode: 213
Date: September 15, 2025
Guest: Geeta Kapadia, Chief Investment Officer, Fordham University

Episode Overview

David Weisburd hosts Geeta Kapadia, CIO of Fordham University, to discuss how she builds and manages Fordham’s $1 billion endowment. The conversation delves into endowment strategy, relationship management, portfolio construction, fund selection, and the nuanced responsibility of aligning multiple stakeholders in a mission-driven institution. Kapadia shares candid lessons about liquidity, performance measurement, and why relationship and energy management are just as critical as investment acumen. She also offers frameworks for active vs passive investments, how her team leverages alumni, and the importance of humility in decision-making.

Key Discussion Points & Insights

The “Sweet Spot” of Managing $1 Billion (00:55)

• Fordham’s AUM is large enough for meaningful investments, but small enough to be nimble.
• The endowment maintains 30–40 relationships, balancing diversification with the ability to focus on high-conviction ideas.
• “We're not interested in hiring our hundredth best idea.” (Kapadia, 01:36)

Stakeholder Management & University Dynamics (02:09)

• Transitioning from a $5B healthcare institution, Kapadia highlights how endowment management at a university is uniquely complex due to donor and alumni relations, student interests, and cross-departmental coordination.
• “It really helps me to lean into some of those skills that have very little to do with investing and really have more to do with psychology and relationship management and telling a story and persuading people…” (Kapadia, 02:45)

Leveraging Alumni as an Investment Edge (03:44)

• Fordham’s Gabelli School alumni and a student-run venture fund serve as powerful sources of deal flow and talent training.
• Alumni network provides introductions, insights, and the opportunity to collaborate on fund manager selection.
• “They're out there doing the hard work that we're doing and they want to be part of the solution for students in the future.” (Kapadia, 04:41)

Manager Relationship Framework (05:11–07:27)

• Relationship management is resource-intensive — it’s about strategic touchpoints, not just annual check-ins.
• The endowment team (just five people) must prioritize which managers to engage deeply.
• “We don't want to be the person that finds out that someone's left the firm through an email blast…” (Kapadia, 06:07)

Delegation & Energy Management (07:45–10:35)

• Delegation is essential with a lean staff. As the team matured, Kapadia shifted more manager engagement to them, focusing on strategic fit and big-picture implications.
• Both host and guest emphasize the limited nature of cognitive energy: task selection is as important as task execution.
• “You want to make sure that you’re giving your best self to the most impactful ones that you have on your plate.” (Kapadia, 10:20)

Portfolio Construction: Then & Now (10:35–12:40)

• Upon arrival, the portfolio was equity-heavy with high allocations to real estate and private credit, low fixed income, and little liquidity.
• Kapadia reduced private investments for improved liquidity, but maintained growth focus through sizable equity allocations.
• “Long story short, this portfolio needs return, and we're not going to be able to get return if we don't emphasize an allocation to both public and private equities.” (Kapadia, 11:42)

Semi-Liquid/Interval Funds: View from the Trenches (12:40–15:41)

• Kapadia is cautious on interval funds, finding them “devil in the middle” – not liquid enough when needed and not return-seeking enough to warrant their illiquidity.
• Peak redemption requests during sector rotations stress test these structures.
• “You want liquidity, but it's not really liquid... you also want return, but it's a little less return-seeking because of that liquidity space.” (Kapadia, 14:38)

Private Markets: Liquidity, DPI, and Continuation Vehicles (15:41–21:50)

• Rise in fund extensions and lack of distributions have led to long-dated capital being locked up.
• On continuation vehicles: “From a true investment philosophy, I’m a default yes… My investment committee, maybe not.” (Kapadia, 18:20)
• On performance measurement: Return multiples and IRR are “fuzzier” than they appear. Ground truth is DPI (Distributions to Paid-In).
• “Those numbers don't mean a lot unless you're putting them in a context of vintage year and IRR and DPI...” (Kapadia, 20:51)

Active vs Passive: A Pragmatic Shift (23:13–26:05)

• Kapadia prefers passive exposure in broad asset classes; her experience with active, especially US large cap, hasn't been persuasive.
• She values spending team resources on manager selection in less efficient markets (eg., private equity, absolute return).
• For passive, Fordham sought a smaller, values-aligned provider associated with Catholic institutions for hands-on service.
• “Virtually all [active managers] terminated... to go to a much more commodity driven... passive exposure.” (Kapadia, 25:07)

Public Markets: Where Is There Room for Alpha? (26:05–27:40)

• Successful active allocations in emerging markets and select US equities. Potential in non-US developed markets, particularly Europe.

Portfolio Analogy – The Orchestra (28:55–30:37)

• Kapadia prefers an orchestra over a sports analogy: Public & private equities are melody instruments (growth), fixed income and absolute return are rhythm and backdrop, shining during downturns.
• “It's that combination... that creates that end result which is hopefully going to be a very nice sounding piece of music.” (Kapadia, 30:27)

Behavioral & “Unsexy” Aspects of Good Investing (30:37–33:03)

• Cash management, fee minimization, and portfolio ballast are key. Hidden drags (like excessive fees) can snowball.
• “Fees is one of my hugest areas of focus. Because that drag, although it's small, it's like a tap dripping in your house...” (Kapadia, 32:21)

Access, Manager Selection, and the Road to Top Funds (33:09–37:35)

• Fordham focuses on Fund 3/Fund 4 relationships, but starts getting to know emerging managers earlier (at Fund 2).
• “We need to get to know the team, the fund, its LPs, the investments, founders, all of the things that we can learn. That takes months of time...” (Kapadia, 33:43)
• Kapadia values meaningful relationships over being a passive check; if a GP can’t invest time, it’s a signal to pass.

Relationship Reciprocity & Value-Add (37:35–42:19)

• GP-LP symbiosis—best relationships go beyond financials, supporting students and the university’s mission.
• Small extra efforts by GPs (e.g., internships, webinars, student programming) can be transformative for Fordham.

Behavioral Skills: EQ vs IQ (42:52–45:31)

• Kapadia’s role has shifted: investing is her team’s focus, her own job is increasingly about storytelling, relationship, and stakeholder management.
• "A huge part of it is relationship management, a much bigger part of it now than it ever was for me..."

Alpha in Privates: Access or Picking? (45:31–48:47)

• For smaller endowments, picking and disciplined vetting are critical; top-tier “access” is more the domain of the very largest institutions.
• “For us it's about singles and doubles... We wish and hope we have a couple of home run, grand slam type hitters in the portfolio. But for us, it's about slow and steady…” (Kapadia, 47:49)

Flexibility and First Principles (48:47–51:37)

• Fordham avoids rigid rules—will invest in Fund 1s if sufficient evidence, but prefers to see some track record.
• Prefer default strategies that probabilistically “win” rather than relying on luck or chasing hyper-competitive allocations.

Podcast Finale: The Value of Openness & Discernment (52:01–56:45)

• Kapadia’s key lesson: “You don't have to be right all the time.” The value of discernment, humility, and honest self-reflection are critical.
• “Being able to allow yourself the possibility of not being right, it's hard when you... live in a world of hyper competitive... meritocracy.” (Kapadia, 53:06)

Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On strategic portfolio size:
  “A billion dollars is like a very sweet spot... create a portfolio that can have a transformative effect on the endowment.” (Kapadia, 00:55)

• On relationship building:
  “Like with any relationship, you have to invest into it. You can’t just say, okay, I’ll see you in a year...” (Kapadia, 05:32)

• On interval funds:
  “They're kind of the devil in the middle. Right. Like, you want liquidity, but it's not really liquid. But you also want return, but it's a little less return seeking because of that liquidity space.” (Kapadia, 14:38)

• On manager selection process:
  “We want to learn about them long before they're out in the market... That might mean we miss the fund three and then we end up in fund four, but we're okay with that.” (Kapadia, 33:43)

• On humility and openness:
  “You don't have to be right all the time... If you're not open to not being right, you're never really going to be able to truly express or truly reach a positive answer...” (Kapadia, 52:06–54:00)

• On boring but effective investment work:
  “It's like those tiny drags on the portfolio that... they're not sexy, they're not fun to talk about, they're not interesting, they're vanilla, but they're important, they make a difference.” (Kapadia, 32:31)

Selected Timestamps for Key Segments

• Fordham’s portfolio approach: 00:55–02:09
• Stakeholder management: 02:09–03:17
• Leveraging alumni: 03:44–05:11
• GP relationship management: 05:11–07:27
• Delegation and energy management: 07:45–10:35
• Portfolio transition/liquidity: 10:43–12:40
• Interval/semi-liquid funds: 12:40–15:41
• Continuation vehicles and DPI: 17:53–21:50
• Active vs passive decision: 23:13–26:05
• Portfolio as orchestra analogy: 28:55–30:37
• Fund 3/Fund 4 strategy and access: 33:09–37:35
• Reciprocity in relationships: 37:35–42:19
• EQ vs IQ as CIO: 42:52–45:31
• Endowment edge: access vs picking: 45:31–48:47
• Flexibility and probabilistic wins: 48:47–51:37
• Key career lesson: Openness: 52:01–56:45

Tone & Language

The episode balances technical rigor with approachability, emphasizing humility, strategic focus, and empathy in endowment management. Kapadia is candid about challenges and trades investment jargon for relatable analogies (like orchestras and drips in the house), reflecting her pragmatic and people-oriented leadership style.

Recommended for:
Institutional investors, emerging LPs, university and non-profit CIOs, and anyone interested in the balance of technical investing and human relationship management within institutional asset management.