Princeton University Investment Company (PRINCO) announced the intention of long-time President Andrew Golden to step down from his role on June 30, 2024, after over 28 years of leadership at the $35.8 billion endowment.
“It’s been almost a three-decade marathon,” Golden said. “My goal for the year ahead is to sprint through the tape, and to make sure that Princeton is positioned for success over the next 25 years.”
The search for his successor will be conducted over the next year by search firm David Barrett Partners.
“Andy Golden’s achievements are the stuff of legend,” said Princeton President Christopher Eisgruber. “His brilliant leadership of PRINCO has changed the economic model of this University, enabling us to support financial aid, graduate stipends, research excellence, and the teaching mission in ways that would otherwise have been unimaginable.”
Princeton’s endowment has grown tenfold since Golden’s joining PRINCO in 1995, when the unit was only eight years old. Over his tenure, the endowment has had an annualized return of 12.6%. The fund has also supplied roughly 65% of the university’s revenue. The endowment distributions and investment income cover 70% of the expanded undergraduate financial aid budget, officials said.
Since joining PRINCO, Golden has ensured that the University’s overall investment strategy has matched its long-term mission. During his tenure, a 65/35 blend of U.S. stocks and bonds had an annualized return of 8.5%, in comparison to the endowment’s 12.6%.
“When you really think about the endowment’s mission, which is to provide into perpetuity an inflation-adjusted level of support, then that redefines risk,” Golden said. “Playing it safe, the way a retiree might play it safe, actually guarantees failure. So we’ve had to be aggressive. I think it’s well understood that endowments, in general, have been at the forefront of exploring new asset classes, and exploring them in intelligent ways.”
Golden is the third president of PRINCO, which he joined from Duke Management Company, where he was an investment director. Previously, he was a senior associate in the Investments Office at Yale University.
Golden credited PRINCO’s success during his tenure to the team culture both within the office and in PRINCO’s partnerships with more than 70 investment firms worldwide.
As of late PRINCO has increased the number of firms owned primarily by women and people of color that help to manage the endowment. A report by the Knight Foundation noted that 26.8% of the Princeton endowment is managed by diverse-owned firms. In the past four years, 80% of the firms PRINCO has hired have diverse leadership. Golden said finding untapped pools of talent has been one key to the endowment’s success.
Currently, Golden sits on the board of the Park Agency, a private family office, and serves on the investment advisory committees of the Edmond J. Safra Foundation and the Cambridge University Endowment Fund. He also serves on fund advisory boards for several hedge fund, private equity and venture capital managers. He is a trustee of the Princeton Area Community Foundation, Rita Allen Foundation and Rutgers Preparatory School.
