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Our Mission
MIT Investment Management Company (MITIMCo) is a department within MIT that manages over $25 billion in financial assets for the Institute’s endowment, retirement plan, and other capital pools. We are a leading investment management firm whose mission is to deliver outstanding long-term investment returns for MIT, and our work directly furthers the transformative research and educational efforts of this world class institution.
Our Method
The Global Investment Staff (GIS) within MITIMCo invests primarily in partnerships with external investment managers. We deliver best in class returns for MIT by investing all over the world across a variety of strategies including long equity stock picking, hedge funds, private equity, venture capital, real estate, and natural resources. Our mandate is to invest MIT’s capital in the most compelling public and private investment opportunities available globally in partnership with the world’s best investors. As investors in third party investment firms, our role extends to evaluating both the people who run them and the assets they own. Since our capital base is permanent and our strategic vision is long-term, we can invest with a longer time horizon than most other investors. This time horizon enables us to think and behave as aligned business owners, employ a patient and analytical decision-making process, and invest in attractive opportunities that may not be suitable for many investment firms, including investments in less proven strategies and money managers. We seek to build long-term relationships in the industry, and having a tenured staff helps to maintain these relationships over many years.
Our Team
We employ a generalist model and eschew hierarchy. The GIS team structure is flat, and all team members report directly to the Chief Investment Officer. Several of our most important investment decisions and most powerful strategic insights have been led by team members early in their professional careers. Our flat and generalist model aligns with our philosophy of group responsibility: we aim to win, and successes and failures are borne as a team. New team members are empowered to contribute and lead right away regardless of experience level. Similarly, our most tenured colleagues do their own primary research and support initiatives led by newer colleagues. All GIS serve on MITIMCo internal investment committee and help make major investment decisions. We take an apprenticeship approach with our onboarding, and new colleagues will work closely with an assigned mentor and other team members to identify main areas of initial portfolio focus and to identify areas for growth and professional development.
In Practice
We are highly motivated by MIT’s impact on the world. You will be able to make a tangible link between the dollars generated by our investment performance and MIT’s ability to fund research, educate students, and provide financial aid. Each team member is expected to contribute to our mission through honing their investment skills and sourcing great opportunities to deploy MIT’s capital. Given this broad scope, a typical day on the investment staff differs based on individuals’ goals, strengths, and areas of focus, all of which may evolve over time. Here are some ways various GIS team members have served MITIMCo’s mission recently:
- Traveled to a swimming pool factory to co-diligence an asset with an investment manager firsthand
- Hosted a day-long Emerging Managers Roundtable at MITIMCo connecting many talented investors
- Introduced a new process for making direct, private investments in early-stage companies
- Traveled to Tokyo to study how recent policy changes may affect investment opportunities in Japanese private equity and public markets investing
There are also responsibilities that remain consistent for all team members:
- Source potential investment opportunities for MIT by utilizing and building networks, independent research, and collaboration with teammates; screen high volume of inbounds with sound independent judgment; write investment memos with guidance from mentor and team; serve on internal investment committee.
- Conduct due diligence on potential investment opportunities as part of underwriting teams, acting as “Champion” or “Co-Champion” on potential investments, taking meetings and traveling as needed for each opportunity.
- Analyze risk and reward by using available tools to assess best actions for the portfolio, eliciting, valuing, and weighing conflicting opinions appropriately in partnership with teammates.
- Maintain relationships with current and potential investment managers, acting with humility and compassion and with a partnership orientation; monitor potential partnerships and stay engaged with high potential investors; intentionally cultivate and expand industry network, building and maintaining symbiotic relationships with external industry and subject-matter experts across the globe.
- Partner with Investment Accounting & Operations (IAO), GIS Legal, and Data Teams end-to-end in the investment process to negotiate investment terms, analyze risk, and optimize investment sizing decisions.
- Travel frequently (domestically and internationally) to in-person meetings with investment managers and companies, conduct due diligence, evaluate organizations’ execution capabilities firsthand, and attend Annual General Meetings as appropriate.
Successful GIS team members will be strong fiduciaries and will consistently represent MIT with integrity in all contexts. Team members are expected, encouraged, and enabled to independently seek out and pursue new ways to improve skills as an investor, a relationship builder, and a teammate. We embrace learning opportunities with curiosity, humility, and intellectual honesty, learning from our mistakes in pursuit of continuous improvement, constantly expanding our knowledge of investing through networking and continuing education, whether formal (e.g., taking the CFA, attending industry conferences) or informal (e.g., participating in office book clubs, debating an interesting investor’s blog post or a new 10K at a team lunch).
Your Development
Our approach to both investing and professional development is long-term. Developing investment judgment takes time and, accordingly, we employee a mentorship model and tailor our onboarding and training to align with each new team member’s level of experience. You will have access to and regular interactions with the world’s best investors as well as access to invaluable learning resources: there is no better place than MITIMCo to learn about investing in both breadth and depth. There are no predefined career paths here, rather each person contributes in accordance with their ability. You will find that MITIMCo is an outstanding foundation for whatever you choose to do in the future. Many GIS have non-traditional investment backgrounds; we encourage you to apply even if your experience does not match what you think a typical institutional investor looks like.
Your Experience & Skills
- Bachelor’s degree in any discipline or equivalent experience.
- Knowledge of basic financial concepts and tools; demonstrated interest in investing.
- Ability to elicit, value, and weigh conflicting opinions.
- Love of learning and demonstrated growth mindset driven by intellectual curiosity and humility.
- Ability to evaluate conflicting mental models of investing down to a day-to-day business level.
- Demonstrated ability to be a persistent self-starter and bring things to fruition with an entrepreneurial mindset, balanced by patience and apprenticeship.
- Strong communication skills, both verbal and written, with the ability to adjust your style to suit different perspectives and audiences; strong relationship-building skills.
- Exceptional time management to meet responsibilities in a complex and largely autonomous work environment; excellent organization capabilities, including demonstrated ability to initiate tasks independently and see them through to completion.
To Apply*
To be considered, your application should include your resume and your answer to the following question: What should we know about you that we cannot glean from your resume?
Note to Applicants**
Our approach to hiring is similar to our approach to investing: we receive many inbounds and are selective in the few we choose to pursue. We regret that we cannot respond to each application individually. Following the review of application materials by the team, we will reach out directly via email should there be interest in further exploring your candidacy.