Inova Health System has installed a new in-house investment team, led by its former Cambridge Associates consultants.
Laura Pinsky took over Inova’s $5 billion portfolio in May as chief investment officer, digital records show. She’s joined by Craig Beach, who’s now managing director of private investments at the Virginia nonprofit health system.
“Inova has a new CEO and a new leadership team in place with a new mission and strategic direction for the organization,” a spokesperson told Institutional Investor in a statement Friday. “This transformation builds upon our clinical strengths and puts patients at the center of all we do.”
Beach and Pinsky are part of a wave of at least 20 consultants and outsourced-CIO professionals to depart Cambridge Associates since the spring of this year, according to sources and LinkedIn data. Inova is the second institution to essentially lift out a new investment team from the firm’s ranks.
A self-contained group led by former managing director Kevin Stephenson left en masse for another employer, II reported in May.
[II Deep Dive: Team Lifted Out of Cambridge Associates]
Then this summer, senior consultant Diana Gibson quit for an unnamed family office in Bentonville, Arkansas, her LinkedIn profile confirmed. The remote city is home to Wal-Mart and heirs to the founder’s fortune. The Waltons are America’s richest family, according to Forbes, with an estimated net worth of $160 billion in 2016.
A spokesperson wouldn’t confirm family office hires, saying that the organization does not comment on family members’ activities.
Additionally, Amherst College recently snapped up a managing director in Cambridge’s endowment and foundation practice. Letitia James became CIO of its $3 billion fund early this month.
Cambridge Associates was sanguine about the wave of exits when asked for comment Friday.
“It is not surprising that our investment team is a source of potential talent for in-house CIOs for some of the world’s most prestigious institutions,” the firm told II in a statement. “We are happy to keep them and the institutions they serve as part of our extended CA community. Our investment teams are structured with a number of investment and investment support team members to fully serve the needs of our clients and allow for as little disruption as possible to the client relationship if a colleague leaves the firm. In addition, we continue to add resources to our global investment team to keep pace with our growing client base.”
The company said it has hired more than 50 people for investment and support positions this year. Its website listed 82 open jobs as of Friday.
