The Investment Committee is composed of professionals selected for their experience in a variety of investment options. The group includes representatives with knowledge of equities, fixed income, private equity, venture capital, fund of funds, and other markets. All members are subject to approval by the Executive Committee. To ensure the selection of the best Investment Committee members, neither a giving minimum nor active fundraising is required.
Mr. Peter O. Jarman, MBA, serves as Managing Director at Cross Creek Advisors. He is part of the fund and direct investments team where he focuses on technology-related investments and is responsible for leading investment analysis and relationships with underlying fund managers. He joined Cross Creek in 2010 after four years as a Senior Investment Manager for Fort Washington Capital Partners Groups, where he assisted in managing its venture and private equity investment portfolios.
Prior to focusing on the investment side of private equity, Peter spent nearly 10 years operating in restructuring and marketing roles for venture and private equity funded companies. His experience includes senior roles at PTC, Ancestry.com, Campus Pipeline (now Sunward Higher Education) and Icon Health and Fitness. He also served as a Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Product Development for Roundy, Inc, and Senior Director for Corporate Development at Oculus Technologies.
Peter received his MBA from the Northwestern Kellogg Graduate School of Management and was a finalist for the Ewing Kauffman Venture Fellows Program. He earned his B.A. in Spanish and economics from the University of Utah.
Mortensen is the founder and CEO of Idyllwood Investments, LLC, which oversees a major real estate development project in Wasatch County. Since 2013, Mortensen has also been a member of the Woodbury School of Business MBA Program, teaching courses in strategy and consulting. He was also instrumental in creating a partnership with Silicon Slopes.
Additionally, Mortensen has facilitated strategic planning and training sessions for the Utah Highway Patrol, the Mighty Five Parks, Davis County, the Human Resource Association of Central Utah, and other organizations. He was an adjunct professor of economics, statistics, leadership, and project management at Brigham Young University for seven years. Prior to that, he was a consultant at Booz Allen Hamilton. In 2019, he received the Ian Wilson Community Engagement Award from the Woodbury School of Business.
Mortensen holds a Master of Public Administration from BYU, a Master of Science in human development from Virginia Tech, and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from BYU.
Jefferson Moss currently serves as a member of the Utah State House of Representatives, representing District 51, which includes Saratoga Springs, Lehi, and Eagle Mountain. He also holds the position of house majority whip and actively participates in various committees related to appropriations, management, and labor.
In addition to his political involvement, Jeff serves as the executive director and associate commissioner of innovation for the Utah System of Higher Education. Prior to this position, he worked at UVU, where he held the titles of associate vice president and foundation COO. During his time at UVU, he founded the Excellence and Innovation Initiative and the Wolverine Fund and taught as an adjunct professor.
Previously, Jeff worked as a Vice President at Key Private Bank. In this capacity, he led a team of wealth management specialists, offering comprehensive solutions in areas such as trust and estate planning, financial planning, investment management, tax strategies, insurance solutions, and credit facilities. Prior to Key Bank, he spent two years in San Francisco working for Credit Suisse in their private bank. While in the Bay Area, he co-founded the Bay Area Entrepreneurial Network, a platform that provided training and mentoring to hundreds of entrepreneurs. Jeff's entrepreneurial spirit led him to launch multiple companies, with his most successful venture being Rustico, which grew from a startup to a multimillion-dollar enterprise. After selling Rustico, he pursued his MBA at Brigham Young University (BYU) and became a member of Cougar Capital, a student-run venture capital firm. He also gained experience as a portfolio consultant at vSpring Capital and as a venture analyst at USTAR.
Jeff is deeply engaged in his community. Before his election to the Utah State House of Representatives, he served as a board member of the Utah State Board of Education. Furthermore, he held a position on the City Council in Saratoga Springs and has been involved in various leadership roles within his political party.
Jeff earned an MBA and a BA in Political Science from Brigham Young University. He currently resides in Saratoga Springs, UT, with his spouse, Kimberly, and their four children.
Brian P. Murphy is a founder and managing member of Portfolio Advisors, a registered investment advisor and Qualified Professional Asset Manager (QPAM) that specialites in delivering customized private equity, real estate, and credit solutions. Additionally, he is a member of the Portfolio Advisors Management Committee, several investment committees, and co-heads the advisory services practice. Brian has served or is serving as a director of nine client portfolio companies and as an advisory board member of twenty-four private equity partnerships. Additionally, he is a member of UVU's WSB National Advisory Board and BYU's Entrepreneurship Founders Advisory Board.
Brian earned a BA from Brigham Young University, an MBA from Columbia University, and completed a CFA program. He and his wife, Louise, are the parents of four children and grandparents to at least twelve grandchildren. They currently reside in Gilbert, AZ.
Seth T. Sunderland is an investor, entrepreneur, and former investment banker. Currently, Seth is the chief executive officer of Spring Canyon Capital, a privately-owned real estate investment and asset management company focused on Utah and the Intermountain West. Additionally, he is an adjunct professor of finance at the University of Utah.
Seth previously worked for UBS Investment Bank from 2004 until 2018 where he executed merger and acquisition transactions with a cumulative value of over $35 billion. From 2011 to 2018 he was based in Asia where he most recently served as head of Southeast Asia mergers and acquisitions for UBS, where he led merger and acquisition efforts in Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, India, and Vietnam. During his time in the Asia Pacific region, he originated and executed buy-side, sell-side, joint venture, minority investments, management buy-outs, and special committee advisory transactions. From 2004 to 2011 Seth was based in San Francisco as a member of the UBS U.S. Merger and Acquisition Group, where he advised clients in the Technology and Media sectors.
Seth graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Accounting from Brigham Young University and holds a Master of Science in Global Finance from New York University. Seth has significant experience advising clients on cross-border merger and acquisition activity, including negotiation strategy and tactics, valuation, transaction structure, due diligence, and process management. He is a licensed Certified Public Accountant in California (Inactive) and holds a Series 7 License. Seth and his wife Amy currently reside in Salt Lake City, Utah, and are the parents of four children.
Michael Thornton has over a decade of investment experience and is currently managing director of Millcreek Asset Management LLC, an investment management firm offering quantitative, research-based investment strategies to qualified clients. Prior to Millcreek, he worked for LP Capital Advisors consulting large institutional clients on private equity investments. Prior to LP Capital Advisors, he worked for Credit Suisse's alternative investments division in New York, as well as the Utah Fund of Funds and the University Venture Fund.
Thornton holds a B.A. in Finance from the University of Utah, graduating cum laude as a research scholar, with both university and departmental honors. Thornton holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designations.
The Investment Committee is responsible for monitoring and balancing the Foundation's endowment within the guidelines of the investment policy. It also selects and oversees the Foundation's asset managers. It is tasked with the following:
