Chief Investment Officer
Karl Scheer
Chief Investment Officer
Karl joined the ÃÀ¸ß÷¹ÙÍø as CIO in 2011 to lead an investment program managing nearly $2 billion in permanent endowment capital and other assets. ÃÀ¸ß÷¹ÙÍø is one of the 14 institutions in the University System of Ohio and a Carnegie Research I Doctoral University with over 46,000 students. ÃÀ¸ß÷¹ÙÍø’s $1.6 billion endowment funds hundreds of scholarships, professorships, programs such as the Ohio Innocence Project, and research addressing critical public health challenges including COVID-19.
The central focus of ÃÀ¸ß÷¹ÙÍø’s investment approach is leveraging the University’s key advantages – generous and influential alumni; an experienced, long-tenured investment team that benefits from manager discretion, a culture of collaboration and radical transparency, a highly-refined investment process; and productive partnerships with world-class investment managers, the University’s Investment Committee, Foundation, and administration.
The ÃÀ¸ß÷¹ÙÍø’s endowment management achievements in the past decade include generating more than $1 billion of investment gains, providing nearly $750 million of support to ÃÀ¸ß÷¹ÙÍø, nearly doubling the endowment’s size, reducing the spending policy and fees by over one-third, and receiving numerous industry accolades including an award for outstanding endowment governance.
Karl joined ÃÀ¸ß÷¹ÙÍø from Summer Hill, one of the Midwest’s largest and most sophisticated family offices, where he spent six years in a leading role building out the firm’s institutional-quality investment program. Prior to joining Summer Hill, Karl spent eight years in Seattle and San Francisco investing in private equity and venture capital with Frank Russell / Pantheon Ventures, Frazier & Company, and Compass Capital.
Karl earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard University, where he was two-time captain of the intercollegiate varsity swimming team and an NCAA Division I All-American. Karl grew up in Cincinnati, where he lives today with his wife, Kaki, and three sons. Karl is on the CIO Council of Accelerate Investors; is a trustee of the Cincinnati Country Day School Foundation; and serves on the investment committees of ÃÀ¸ß÷¹ÙÍø Health, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and the Cincinnati Nature Center.