PRINCO to advise WWS endowment

The lawsuit filed against the University by the Robertson family, which is trying to regain control of the $550 million behind the Wilson School, grew more tense yesterday.

The University members of the Robertson Foundation, which controls the endowment, outvoted the family in a decision to give the University investment office more say in how to manage the assets.

The Robertson family members portrayed the 4-3 vote as another example of the University taking control of the Foundation's assets and commingling the endowment with the University's.

But the University said the move had been recommended after a review of 10 other potential investment advisers and was in the Foundation's interest.

The Robertson board resolution said the Princeton University Investment Company, PRINCO, would be retained "to advise the investment committee and manage the assets of the Robertson Foundation subject to the continued oversight of the investment committee and the Robertson Foundation board," according to Douglas Eakeley, the University's lawyer in the case.

That $550 million began as a $30 million foundation set up in 1961 by Charles '26 and Marie Robertson to expand the school's graduate program.

Today's development comes on the first day of a court-ordered mediation between the University and the Robertsons, who also allege in the lawsuit that the University has irresponsibly used Foundation assets and has failed to send enough students into government service, as the Foundation's charter requires.

The University has denied the allegations, saying it acted within its rights at all times and that between 40 and 50 percent of graduate students enter the public sector.

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In September Judge Neil Shuster of Mercer County Superior Court set a trial date of October 2005 after rejecting a University procedural request to toss the case out. Mediation begins today in Hackensack at the office of Judge Gary Stein.

Since the Foundation's beginning, an investment committee of three board members has decided how to invest the assets.

The Foundation investment committee is composed of John Beck '53, Stephen Oxman '67 and William Robertson '76. Oxman joined the board recently after the retirement of Jay Sherrerd '52 who along with Beck suggested PRINCO take control.

The Robertson family yesterday expressed outrage over the decision, saying in a statement, "The University's intentions are perfectly clear: grab the money."

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But Eakeley said the Foundation's experts, including one requested by the Robertsons, reviewed 10 other management firms in addition to PRINCO before making a decision.

"The University-designated trustees acted as they did because they felt it was in their fiduciary interest to do so," Eakeley said, emphasizing that the Foundation investment committee will continue to have oversight and make final decisions.