Until Feb. 1, 2023, we were Group Health Foundation. This post was written under our former identity. To learn more about our new name, read our announcement here.
Muthu Muthiah is joining Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta; Managing Director of Investments Peng Wang will step in as CIO
SEATTLE – Chief Investment Officer Muthu Muthiah will be departing Group Health Foundation to assume the CIO role at Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. Muthiah joined GHF in 2019 and led the creation of the investment team that oversees the strategic deployment of financial resources and stewards assets to support the foundation’s mission. At CHOA, Muthiah will lead the investment office, which manages the system’s long-term $6.4 billion investment portfolio.
“We would not be the organization we are today without Muthu’s thoughtful leadership,” said president and CEO Nichole June Maher. “While we are sad to say goodbye, we are thrilled for Muthu to return to Atlanta, his home, and to see him recognized with the opportunity to manage a significantly larger portfolio at CHOA. It is a true endorsement of his work in Washington state and the team he has built at GHF.”
Under Muthiah’s leadership, GHF built a world-class portfolio and recruited a talented team to manage the foundation’s $2.4 billion in assets. He also shaped the foundation’s investment culture in service of its values, bringing on a team of staff and investment managers who are majority women and people of color and starting an analyst program to ensure the diversity of Washington state is reflected in our investment professionals.
Most recently, the GHF board and investment team formed the Inatai Investment Management Company as a wholly owned subsidiary of GHF. Inatai is charged with the strategic investment of all GHF assets. The company is governed by a board of investment experts, mostly from around the Pacific Northwest. Earlier this month, Inatai was pleased to announce the election of Cara Nakamura to the board, a group that is also majority women and people of color. Nakamura is the managing director of the financial assets division of Kamehameha Schools, which represents a $12 billion globally diversified endowment.
GHF plans to commence a broad-based search for its next CIO in the coming months. Peng Wang, who has served as GHF’s managing director of investments since 2019, will serve as CIO. Wang has nearly 20 years of investing experience, having started in asset allocation and risk management at Georgetown University. In 2015, he was named as one of Chief Investment Officer’s 40 under 40.
“We hate to lose Muthu, but we are confident his legacy will be sustained,” said Peter van Oppen, Inatai board chair. “The inaugural Inatai Investment Management Company team has done an exceptional job instilling our core values into their work. Diversity, equity, and inclusion are embedded in the culture and always factors in our investment strategy. We are confident the transition will be seamless under Peng’s leadership.”
About Group Health Foundation
Group Health Foundation is a 501(c)(4) grantmaking organization serving Washington state. GHF works to transform the balance of power to ensure equity and racial justice across Washington and beyond. For more, visit www.inatai.org.
About Inatai Investment Management Company
Inatai is a wholly owned subsidiary of GHF. The company manages the assets of GHF and other mission-aligned foundations and endowments. Inatai aims to be a proactive, community-driven force for change in capital markets and the investment sector at large.
