Capital Allocators · Monday, July 27, 2026
Michelle Knudsen, CIO of the NYU endowment, emphasized the importance of diversification as a key lesson learned during her nine years at the Mellon Foundation. She stated that the foundation's diversified portfolio helped mitigate risk and generate strong long-term returns, a principle she has carried forward to NYU.
“The biggest lesson I learned at Mellon was the importance of diversification.”
“The foundation had a very diversified portfolio, and I saw firsthand how that helped to mitigate risk and to generate strong returns over the long term.”
“I believe that diversification is key to achieving long-term success in portfolio management, and I'm always looking for ways to further diversify the portfolio while still maintaining a strong focus on risk management.”