Vanderbilt University's recently installed Chief Investment Officer Matthew Wright is reviewing who will step-in behind real-assets portfolio manager Henry Delicata, who recently left the university he served more than 20 years, to manage a Pennsylvania investment fund.
A university spokesman said Wright, who succeeded Treasurer and CIO Bill Spitz on Aug. 1, is reviewing assignments within his division, which manages the university's $3.2 billion endowment.
Delicata told NashvillePost.com this morning that at his departure he was managing about $450 million in VU real-estate and other assets.
On Aug. 1, Delicata joined Verdis Investment Management, based in the Philadelphia area, as the company's managing director and porfolio manager for the new "Verdis Real Assets Fund."
Delicata said he and his wife decided to move after Spitz announced his retirement plans, after considering the option for some time. Delicata had worked for Spitz more than eight years.
Delicata said the Verdis fund he manages — which encompasses real-estate, oil, gas and timber assets — will close at about $75 million. He expects to seek investments from smaller colleges and other endowments.
During his early years at Vanderbilt, the mild-mannered Delicata was widely known — particularly by those who lived or did business within close proximity of the campus — as the person who executed Vanderbilt real-estate acquisitions and managed coveted properties.
A native of Boston, Delicata had been recruited to Vanderbilt after playing similar roles at Harvard and Boston University.
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