Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) is the oldest children’s hospital in the United States, founded in 1855 and consistently ranked among the top pediatric hospitals in the nation. Located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, CHOP provides comprehensive pediatric care and is one of the leading pediatric research institutions in the world, affiliated with the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. CHOP manages an investment portfolio of approximately $4 billion.

Investment Strategy

CHOP’s investment portfolio is managed across multiple pools, including endowment funds, defined benefit pension plans, operating reserves, and research endowments. The investment approach follows an institutional endowment model, with diversified allocations across public equities, fixed income, and a substantial alternatives allocation. The endowment pool maintains the most growth-oriented asset allocation, reflecting its perpetual time horizon and the hospital’s long-term financial needs.

The public equity portfolio spans US and international markets, including emerging market exposures, managed through a combination of active and passive strategies. Fixed income provides portfolio stability and income, with holdings concentrated in investment-grade corporate bonds, government securities, and structured products. CHOP’s investment team manages the portfolio with a total return orientation, balancing current income needs with long-term growth objectives.

Private Markets Approach

CHOP allocates approximately 25% of its investment portfolio to alternative assets, including private equity, venture capital, hedge funds, and real estate. The alternatives allocation reflects the hospital’s sophisticated investment approach and the long time horizon of its endowment.

Private equity represents a significant component of the alternatives portfolio, with commitments to established managers across buyout, growth equity, and special situations strategies. CHOP maintains a diversified private equity portfolio across vintage years and geographies, with the investment team focused on identifying top-performing managers.

Venture capital is a distinctive strength of CHOP’s investment program. As a leading pediatric research institution, the hospital has deep expertise in life sciences, genomics, and pediatric medicine that informs its venture capital investment activities. CHOP’s commercialization office has successfully translated research discoveries into commercial ventures, and the hospital’s venture investments benefit from this institutional knowledge base.

Hedge fund allocations provide portfolio diversification through exposure to multiple strategies with low correlation to public markets. Real estate investments include fund commitments across property types and risk profiles. CHOP’s alternatives program is overseen by the hospital’s investment committee, with governance practices modeled on best practices from university endowments and major institutional investors.