Chief Investment Officer

Karl joined the University of Cincinnati as CIO in 2011 to lead an investment program managing nearly $2 billion in permanent endowment capital and other assets. UC is one of the 14 institutions in the University System of Ohio and a Carnegie Research I Doctoral University with over 46,000 students. UC’s $1.6 billion endowment funds hundreds of scholarships, professorships, programs such as the Ohio Innocence Project, and research addressing critical public health challenges including COVID-19.

The central focus of UC’s investment approach is leveraging the University’s key advantages – generous and influential alumni; an experienced, long-tenured investment team that benefits from manager discretion, a culture of collaboration and radical transparency, a highly-refined investment process; and productive partnerships with world-class investment managers, the University’s Investment Committee, Foundation, and administration.

The University of Cincinnati’s endowment management achievements in the past decade include generating more than $1 billion of investment gains, providing nearly $750 million of support to UC, nearly doubling the endowment’s size, reducing the spending policy and fees by over one-third, and receiving numerous industry accolades including an award for outstanding endowment governance.

Karl joined UC from Summer Hill, one of the Midwest’s largest and most sophisticated family offices, where he spent six years in a leading role building out the firm’s institutional-quality investment program. Prior to joining Summer Hill, Karl spent eight years in Seattle and San Francisco investing in private equity and venture capital with Frank Russell / Pantheon Ventures, Frazier & Company, and Compass Capital.

Karl earned his undergraduate degree from Harvard University, where he was two-time captain of the intercollegiate varsity swimming team and an NCAA Division I All-American. Karl grew up in Cincinnati, where he lives today with his wife, Kaki, and three sons. Karl is on the CIO Council of Accelerate Investors; is a trustee of the Cincinnati Country Day School Foundation; and serves on the investment committees of UC Health, the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, and the Cincinnati Nature Center.