Investment Strategy
The David & Lucile Packard Foundation is a major private foundation with approximately $9 billion in endowment assets. Founded in 1964 by David Packard, co-founder of Hewlett-Packard, and his wife Lucile, the foundation is headquartered in Los Altos, California. It supports programs in conservation and science, children and families, reproductive health, and local grantmaking in the communities where the Packard family lived and worked. Annual grantmaking is approximately $350-400 million.
The foundation’s investment portfolio is diversified across public equities, fixed income, private equity, venture capital, real assets, and absolute return strategies. The portfolio targets a long-term real return rate that supports the foundation’s grantmaking while preserving purchasing power. The alternatives allocation represents a significant portion of the portfolio, estimated at approximately 40%, reflecting the foundation’s comfort with illiquid investments and its multi-decade investment horizon.
The Packard Foundation’s investment approach reflects the disciplined, engineering-minded culture of its founders. The portfolio is managed with attention to long-term strategic asset allocation, diversification across geographies and strategies, and a rigorous manager selection process. The foundation works with external investment managers across all asset classes while maintaining internal oversight of portfolio construction and risk management.
Private Markets Approach
The Packard Foundation’s private markets program encompasses private equity, venture capital, and real assets. The foundation commits capital to established managers and selectively to emerging managers whose strategies complement the existing portfolio.
Like its sister institution, the Hewlett Foundation, the Packard Foundation benefits from deep ties to the Silicon Valley venture capital and technology ecosystem. The foundation’s venture capital allocation reflects long-standing relationships with top-tier Bay Area firms and a comfort with technology-driven investment strategies that comes from the institution’s Hewlett-Packard heritage.
The private equity allocation includes commitments to buyout, growth equity, and special situations strategies across domestic and international markets. The foundation’s real assets program provides inflation protection and portfolio diversification, with investments in real estate and natural resources vehicles.
The Packard Foundation has also been active in mission-related investing, exploring ways to align a portion of the endowment with the foundation’s programmatic priorities. The foundation has made program-related investments in conservation and clean energy, and has explored how the broader investment portfolio can support environmental objectives without compromising financial returns.
Fund managers should review the foundation’s publicly available IRS Form 990-PF filings for insight into current holdings and manager relationships. The foundation’s investment team evaluates prospective managers based on track record, team quality, strategy differentiation, portfolio fit, and alignment of interests. The foundation values transparency and long-term partnership over transactional manager relationships.
Frequently Asked Questions
How large is the Packard Foundation's endowment and how is it invested?
The David & Lucile Packard Foundation manages an endowment of approximately $9 billion invested across a diversified portfolio of public equities, fixed income, private equity, venture capital, real assets, and absolute return strategies. The foundation allocates roughly 40% of its portfolio to alternative investments, leveraging its long time horizon to capture illiquidity premiums. The endowment supports annual grantmaking of approximately $350-400 million across conservation, science, children's health, and reproductive health.
Does the Packard Foundation invest in venture capital?
Yes, the Packard Foundation maintains a meaningful venture capital allocation within its alternatives portfolio. The foundation's location in Los Altos, California, and its roots in the Hewlett-Packard legacy give it strong connections to the Silicon Valley venture capital ecosystem. The foundation commits capital to venture capital funds across stages and sectors, and the portfolio benefits from the foundation's geographic proximity to the innovation economy. The venture allocation complements the foundation's broader private equity commitments across buyout and growth strategies.
How can fund managers engage with the Packard Foundation's investment team?
The Packard Foundation's investment team operates from its Los Altos headquarters and manages the endowment through a combination of internal oversight and external manager relationships. Fund managers should understand the foundation's long-term investment philosophy and its emphasis on manager quality, strategy differentiation, and alignment of interests. The foundation's publicly available 990-PF filings provide detailed information about investment holdings and current manager relationships, which can help prospective managers position their strategies appropriately.
