Endowment exec says goodbye

By THE DAILY NEWS STAFF

Chief Investment Officer Eric Upin will leave the Stanford Management Company (SMC) in February to “pursue other opportunities,” according to a University press release. Upin, who joined Stanford’s endowment management division in February 2005 as managing director of public equities, previously spent 13 years on Wall Street as a senior equity research analyst for software and other technology sectors.

SMC President and Chief Executive Officer John Powers called Upin’s leadership “invaluable.”

“When I joined the Stanford Management Company 17 months ago, I asked Eric to help guide the organization through a period of transition and rebuilding,” Powers said in the statement. “Eric has been a dedicated and loyal partner in that period, and his contributions to a successful transition have been significant.”

Upin said he was proud of his achievements during his three years at Stanford.

“It has been a great privilege and honor to support Stanford University and serve CEO John Powers and the Stanford Management Company board,” Upin said in the press release. “I am proud of the investment results we achieved, the many portfolio actions we have taken, the team that John and I have built and the strong investing culture that has emerged. I will miss my colleagues and wish them the very best.”

SMC manages the University’s endowment, which totaled $17.2 billion as of Aug. 31. SMC became a separate University division in 1991.