As the Chief Investment Officer, Chun Lai is responsible for managing The Rockefeller Foundation’s $4.8 billion endowment.
Chun joined the Foundation in 1996 as an Investment Associate. Over his long career at the Foundation, he held roles across multiple asset classes and functional areas, including overseeing research and asset allocation, managing the Real Assets and Fixed Income portfolios, and building and managing the Hedge Funds portfolio. Before assuming the CIO role in 2019, he was the Deputy CIO for 9 years, overseeing portfolio management, asset allocation, and investment research. He started his investment career at the State of Connecticut Retirement and Trust Funds from 1992 to 1996. Prior to coming to the U.S., he was an aeronautics engineer in China.
Chun has a bachelor’s degree of engineering from Beijing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and an MBA in Finance from the University of Connecticut. He serves on the Investment Committee of the William Penn Foundation. He also holds the CFA (chartered financial analyst) designation from the CFA Institute.