John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation

Overview

The MacArthur Foundation is a private foundation known for the MacArthur Fellows Program and grantmaking in climate, justice, and civic life.¹

The endowment supports MacArthur Foundation grantmaking and impact investments.¹

Estimated AUM: $8.7B as of Dec 31, 2024³
Capital pool: Private foundation endowment²
Investment model: Federal law requires each to distribute at least 5 percent of net investment assets annually for charitable purposes, which means the investment office needs to clear distributions, inflation, and management costs every year just to keep the endowment flat.⁴
Investment approach: Many of these investment offices run 10 to 30 professionals managing diversified multi-asset portfolios in-house.⁴
Spending support: Not listed yet
Spending policy: Not listed yet
Asset allocation: Third-party directory states portfolio was approximately 35% private assets.⁵
Performance: Not listed yet
Governance: The fund's scale rivals the largest university endowments, but its governance structure and religious institutional mandate set it apart from traditional foundation investors.⁴
Investment team: Federal law requires each to distribute at least 5 percent of net investment assets annually for charitable purposes, which means the investment office needs to clear distributions, inflation, and management costs every year just to keep the endowment flat.⁴
Unfunded commitments: Not listed yet
Source freshness: Last verified Jul 7, 2026 · Verified

Last verified Jul 7, 2026 from public career and organization materials.

Website (macfound.org)Parent organization overview, Pool purpose, Investment office page · checked Jul 3, 2026
Website (macfound.org)Institution type, Capital pool, Headquarters · checked Jul 3, 2026
Form 990 (macfound.org)Estimated AUM · checked Jul 7, 2026
Website (praxisrock.com)Investment model, Investment approach, Governance, Investment team · checked Jul 4, 2026
Other source (macfound.org)Asset allocation · checked Jul 3, 2026