Jonathan L. Leight has been named Managing Director, Asset Allocation and Risk Management for MacArthur. In this position, Leight will be responsible for managing MacArthur's quantitative research/analytics function, including Asset Allocation and Risk Management. The Managing Director is responsible for maintaining a quantitative valuation approach and risk management framework to assist in the management of the total Foundation portfolio.
The ability of MacArthur to meet its grantmaking goals is dependent upon the performance of the endowment, said Susan Manske, Vice President and Chief Investment Officer at the Foundation. I am delighted to have someone with Jonathan Leights investment experience, leadership, and quantitative expertise joining our team.
Prior to joining MacArthur, Leight held a series of financial management positions with Sears Roebuck & Company, a firm he joined in 1990, leaving in 2001, having risen to the position of Chief Investment Officer. In that capacity he was responsible for total plan structure and asset allocation, portfolio risk analysis, global tactical asset allocation and liquidity management. He was also responsible for strategic asset allocation and asset/liability management. Earlier in his career, from 1985 to 1990, he worked for Deloitte & Touche LLP in Chicago in a number of corporate finance positions, including Manager in the Capital Markets Services group.
Leight is a 1974 graduate of the University of Chicago, following his undergraduate education with professional music studies at the Julliard School in New York, where he earned both his Diploma and Masters Degree in violin performance. From 1978 to 1983 he was Assistant Concertmaster for the Oregon Symphony Orchestra in Portland, OR. He earned his MBA from the University of Chicago in 1985.
In his new role at MacArthur, Leight will join a fourteen person staff responsible for management of its $4.5 billion endowment, generating returns that support MacArthur's annual grantmaking of approximately $180 million.