Intermountain Health

Intermountain Health is a leading non-profit health system based in Salt Lake City, Utah, operating 33 hospitals and approximately 385 clinics across Utah, Colorado, Montana, Nevada, Wyoming, Kansas, and Nebraska. The system expanded significantly through its 2022 merger with SCL Health. Intermountain is widely recognized for its clinical excellence and innovation in healthcare delivery. The system manages an investment portfolio of approximately $8 billion.

Investment Strategy

Intermountain Health’s investment portfolio is managed across multiple pools reflecting the system’s diverse financial needs. These include defined benefit pension plans, operating reserves, board-designated endowment funds, and foundation assets. The investment team establishes distinct asset allocation strategies for each pool, with risk and return targets calibrated to the pool’s time horizon and liquidity requirements.

The overall investment philosophy emphasizes diversification, disciplined risk management, and long-term capital appreciation. The public equity allocation includes both US and international exposures, managed through a combination of active and index strategies. Fixed income holdings provide portfolio stability and income through investment-grade corporate bonds, government securities, and structured products. The investment team regularly reviews asset allocation in light of market conditions and the system’s evolving financial needs.

Private Markets Approach

Intermountain Health allocates approximately 18% of its investment portfolio to alternative assets, including private equity, hedge funds, real estate, and private credit. The alternatives program is focused on generating returns above public market equivalents while providing diversification benefits that improve the portfolio’s overall risk-return profile.

Private equity investments are made through fund commitments to established managers, with diversification across vintage years, strategies, and geographies. The system invests in buyout, growth equity, and venture capital funds, maintaining relationships with managers who demonstrate consistent value creation and operational expertise.

Hedge fund investments play a risk management role in the portfolio, providing returns with low correlation to public equity markets. Intermountain allocates across multiple hedge fund strategies, including long-short equity, event-driven, and multi-strategy approaches.

Real estate investments include fund commitments to managers pursuing core, value-add, and opportunistic strategies across commercial property types. Given Intermountain’s extensive real estate operating experience managing hospital campuses and clinical facilities across multiple states, the investment team brings contextual knowledge to real estate investment evaluation. Private credit investments provide yield enhancement through direct lending and specialty finance, offering attractive risk-adjusted returns within the fixed income component of the alternatives allocation.