Six months after its chief investment officer announced her intention to step down after 21 years, the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has named Nature Conservancy vet Bola Olusanya to manage its nearly $9 billion endowment as VP and CIO. Starting in June, Olusanya replaces Susan Manske, who in November confirmed her plans to retire next month after having been in the role since 2003.
As the foundation’s new CIO, Olusanya will lead MacArthur’s 17-person investment team overseeing the foundation’s overall asset allocation and investment strategy through the selection of third-party asset managers. He is on the hook to deliver a 5 percent annual return — as well as to continue seeking managers that advance diversity initiatives.
John Palfrey, MacArthur’s president, noted Olusanya’s track record of strong returns and strategic leadership in a statement. He also emphasized Olusanya’s focus on advancing the foundation’s mission.
Olusanya previously served as investment chief for the Nature Conservancy for the past five years, where he built the organization’s first internal investment team to manage its $4 billion investment portfolio. Earlier in his career, Olusanya held senior roles at Key Private Bank, Vanderbilt University, Strategic Investment Group, and S&P Global. He is also on the board of the Investment Fund for Foundations, serves on investment committees at the Cleveland Foundation and United World Colleges, and advises the London-based venture capital firm Giant Ventures.
Manske’s retirement has been part of a higher-than-normal turnover among endowment and foundation CIOs. Institutions such as Rice, UFICO, and Johns Hopkins have also recently named new investment chiefs.
While Olusanya has a mandate to deliver an annual return of 5 percent, the MacArthur Foundation is looking to increase the amount of grant money it provides. In February, the foundation announced that it would increase its baseline payout to at least 6 percent for 2025 and 2026 in light of the federal funding freezes imposed by the Trump administration.
“The need for a surge in funding is plain. Philanthropy needs to step up. We at MacArthur believe it is time to tap our reserves to get more money flowing,” Palfrey wrote in a blog post.
Heidrick & Struggles conducted the search on the foundation’s behalf.
Other executive recruiters noted that this move made sense. Edward Fowler, a partner at RSR Partners, wrote in an email to Institutional Investor that the cultures between the two organizations “share similar values and even have some overlap in mission,” so the move made sense for both Olusanya and MacArthur.
“Bola is a great choice for MacArthur,” Fowler wrote, adding that for Olusanya, “this is a logical new challenge in the progression of his career.”
