Jim Bergstrom and Abe Weldy Appointed Co-Chief Investment Officers for the Indiana University Foundation

Interim IU Foundation President and CEO, J T. Forbes has appointed Jim Bergstrom and Abe Weldy to serve as Co-Chief Investment Officers for the IU Foundation, effective April 1, 2021. This appointment, made in close consultation with the IUF Board Investment Committee, was prompted by the impending March 31 retirement of current Executive Vice President, Investments and Chief Investment Officer, Gary Stratten.

Reporting directly to the President of the Indiana University Foundation (IUF), the Chief Investment Officer (CIO) provides strategic and operational leadership for managing the Foundation’s endowment. Critical to the Foundation’s effectiveness, the CIO has the daily responsibility for administration and oversight of the Foundation’s investments and consults with the Investment Committee of the Board of Directors on matters relating to the investment of Foundation assets. The CIO acts as main liaison and primary contact for the Foundation’s investment managers, investments consultant, custodian, and Investment Committee.

J T. shared his rationale for appointing co-leads for the CIO role by saying, “Abe and Jim are experienced and prepared for this role. The performance of the endowment portfolio has been strong and that is a result, in large part, of the strength of our current team. There is great value in keeping that team intact. Abe and Jim have a tremendous track record and skillset that are well known to our staff, board, asset managers, and university partners. They have both been well-trained by Gary to assume these roles and have been managing a significant portion of the department’s responsibilities for some time. This approach will work very well for us and is consistent with our value of collaboration. I am very pleased they have chosen to accept this opportunity to lead, together.”

Abe and Jim will share the role and responsibilities of Chief Investment Officer. In short, Jim will lead the traditional investment categories (stocks, bonds), and Abe will lead the alternative/non-public categories. They will be equally available to and involved with the Investment Committee of the Board, external consultant Cambridge Associates, IUF Senior Management Team, and units and partners across the IU system.

What people are saying

“I am tremendously excited to congratulate and welcome Abe and Jim to their new roles as Co-CIO’s at IUF. They are unique investment talents and make a strong team that will be able to lead the Foundation into the future. I look forward to all they will accomplish.”

– Kay Ryan Booth, Vice-Chair, IUF Board of Directors

“Gary Stratten has completed a highly effective and successful run as CIO of the Foundation’s endowment. One of his greatest accomplishments is the team culture and the actual team he leaves behind. Abe Weldy and Jim Bergstrom are each highly qualified to be CIO and Scott Ryan, the youngest and least senior, is not far behind. The Foundation is tremendously fortunate that Abe and Jim have agreed to become Co-CIOs.”

– Glenn Scolnik, Chair, Investment Committee, IUF Board of Directors

“I am excited about the well-earned promotion of Abe and Jim to the Co-CIO role. Their contributions to the IUF endowment portfolio have been consistently stellar. They have been instrumental in the heavy lift of repositioning the portfolio for the last many years. Identifying, performing diligence, building relationships, and recommending managers has been at the heart of their duties. As those resulting investments have seasoned and the portfolio is now seeing extremely positive results come to fruition, the value of their insights becomes abundantly clear. Abe and Jim have been wonderful colleagues and friends. It will be enjoyable to watch them and the entire Investment team continue to do great work for IUF, the results of which will benefit IU and so many individuals, now and into the future.” 

– Gary Stratten, outgoing EVP Investments and Chief Investment Officer, IU Foundation

Jim Bergstrom, CFA, joined the Indiana University Foundation in March 2008 as Director of Investments and was promoted to Senior Director, Investments in 2017. He has previously served in a number of leadership roles for CFA Society of Indianapolis, including Membership Chair, Secretary, Vice President, and President. In 2011, Jim published Shangri La Investing, a book on personal investing that was praised by Warren Buffett as “a good and honest book.”  

After graduating summa cum laude from Indiana University Bloomington in 1999 with a B.A. in Economics and a minor in English, Jim worked as an analyst for a global employee benefits consulting firm and later joined one of the leading wealth management firms in Indianapolis as an analyst. Jim earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation in 2005.

Jim spends most of his free time with his wife and two kids. He is actively involved as a youth sports coach in his community and loves cheering on the Hoosiers, especially in baseball and soccer.

Abe Weldy, CFA, CAIA, joined the Indiana University Foundation in August 2005 as Director of Alternative Investments and was promoted to Senior Director, Investments in 2017. When Abe started at IUF, the endowment was managing roughly $1.1 billion in assets, and alternative investments represented 10% of the total pool. Today alternative investments comprise nearly half of the $2.6 billion endowment and have generated over $820 million in gains since inception.

Abe has been an investment professional for over 20 years. Prior to joining IUF, he held positions at two high net worth/institutional wealth management firms based in Indianapolis and at a global mutual fund company based in Tampa, FL. Abe graduated from Miami University in 1996 with a B.S. in Business, and has earned the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designations since graduating.  

Abe is married to Jennifer Weldy and has a daughter in middle school and a son in high school. In his free time, he enjoys spending time outdoors, traveling, and attending his children’s sporting events.