Andover’s CIO Kirsten Glantz Speaks on Investment Strategies
Kirsten Glantz, Andover’s Chief Investment Officer (CIO), spoke to students about the academy’s $1.4 billion endowment during a student panel hosted by the Student Council (STUCO) and Women in Finance (WIF). Held in the Tang Institute, the event focused on the endowment’s role in funding about 45 percent of Andover’s operating budget.
The Investment Committee (IC), which oversees the school’s asset allocation and approved recommended investments, meets at least four times a year and is composed of former trustees, charter trustees, alumni trustees, trustees emeriti, as well as a few non-trustee alumni. During the panel, Glantz explained how nearly half of the school’s operating budget comes from the endowment’s roughly 5 percent annual draw. She highlighted her focus on endowment investment to support the school’s mission and achieve strong returns.
“My job is to focus on investing the [endowment] portfolio more than the school’s budgeting. The fact that the endowment supports a lot of financial aid and a lot of excellence in programming that schools without such assets don’t have also makes it a very compelling mission…Our last fiscal year return was 10.4 percent which was for the 12 months ending June 30, 2024 and that was a pretty good return compared to many larger endowments,” said Glantz.
One of the IC’s main focuses is ensuring the endowment’s long-term sustainability while also keeping up with inflation, particularly the average 3 percent annual rise in costs associated with higher education. These measures help safeguard Andover’s financial future while supporting its operational and financial aid commitments. Arjun Shah ’25, who is currently taking macroeconomics, noted the value of seeing real-world examples of what he is studying.
“I’m taking macroeconomics with Dr. Blakeney, and she’s really into real-world examples of macroeconomics, so she wanted us to go to this panel to learn more about investment at Andover… I was interested in [how] the investment strategy differs from other private equity firms. In general, I thought the ways that Andover has safety measures in place to prevent too many losses, and protect the endowment and distribution of money within the endowment across different sources, were interesting,” said Shah.
Ibuki Hada ’25, initially informed of the panel through WIF, was eager to understand how Andover manages its resources. She shared hopes of hearing more details on the donors in future events.
“I was generally interested in how this school uses [and] organizes money that the students or other alums provide… I learned about how PA has really enriched resources compared to other boarding schools and how big the school’s efforts are in trying to make transparent how they use and spend money transparently…I’d like to see more about the ratio of the people who endow money are graduates like parents or other generations,” said Hada.
Student Body Co-President Nate Liang ’25 highlighted the importance of transparency in campus processes, noting recent discussions among students about how Andover allocates its finances. He noted that understanding the school’s endowment in student support can foster greater appreciation for the community.
“Around campus there’s been a lot of talk about how exactly Andover uses its finances and I think this is a really great way for people to know where campus finances are going… Knowing how much money Andover spends on the students and how many resources Andover is tapping into in order to support you,” said Liang.
Sophia Tabibian ’26, co-coordinator of WIF, emphasized the limited opportunities for students to explore economics and finance at Andover. She explained how the event was started due to the lack of access to these subjects, particularly for underclassmen.
“Economics is both one of the highest demanded topics among the student body, yet it also is probably one of the smallest departments on campus. Many students want to learn more about econ and finance, and they don’t really have the opportunities unless they’re a lucky senior who gets the elective. The reason that we can have academic excellence and non-sibi is because there’s money behind it. There are tons of people behind managing the endowment. It really does affect student life,” said Tabibian.
Reflecting on the panel, Glantz expressed her gratitude for the students’ engagement and curiosity. She shared that the panel discussion was a good starter for thoughtful conversations about finance taking place across campus.
“I came away from [the talk] exceptionally impressed by the students’ interest and really great questions that they asked. I’m really thrilled to know that there’s great interest by the students in the endowment and in finance opportunities at Andover,” said Glantz.
