Who We Are
Rice Management Company (RMC) is responsible for the stewardship Rice's endowment fund. We are a group of diverse professionals with strong investment and endowment operations expertise. RMC is closely integrated with University leadership, and actively participates in operations and financial planning, and in shaping long-term strategic direction.
History
In 1904, The Rice Institute (now known as Rice University), received a founding endowment of $4.6 million from the estate of William Marsh Rice. For many years, the endowment was primarily invested in real estate, notes, bonds, and a few blue-chip stocks. In the early years, the Rice endowment often acted as a bank by loaning money to Houston churches, clubs, and civic organizations. Valued at about $1 billion in 1989, the endowment is now valued at $7.7 billion (as of June 30, 2023), and is highly diversified across many asset classes, with both domestic and international exposure.
RMC Today
Rice Management Company was established on October 1, 2009, as a division of Rice University. The President of RMC is also the Chief Investment Officer of the University. The responsibilities of RMC include asset allocation and the selection/termination of investment managers and consultants. RMC acts as the master custodian, monitoring performance of investment managers and the entire portfolio on a regular basis, reporting to the Rice Management Company Board of Directors.
The endowment is managed as a consolidated investment pool composed of a large unrestricted endowment (approximately one-half of the total endowment), and more than 2100 individual funds with designated purposes.
Ranking in the top 20 endowments of private research universities (by market value) in the country, the endowment funds are the permanent capital of the University, established to provide a perpetual source of revenue for current operations and certain capital needs.