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Och-Ziff's investor base has always been institutional. Institutions represent about 40 percent of Griffin's client base. Tax-exempt entities are about 40 percent of Cooperman's clients. About one-third of Stark's clientele are institutional clients. Wilcox estimates that 25 percent of Cumberland's clients are U.S. nontaxables. While not providing specifics, Kingdon says his share of endowments is on the rise. Sussman says his core investors include insurance companies.

Because managers are generally unwilling to disclose their client names, we went to the National Association of College and University Business Officers (NACUBO) 1999 annual survey on investment allocation. We found that many of the managers receive endowment allocations.

Ainslie has allocations from Carnegie Mellon University, King's College, the University of Michigan, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Whitman College, Oberlin College, Vassar College, the University of Vermont, Southern Methodist University, and the University of Texas System. Och has allocations from Amherst College, Carnegie Mellon University, Colgate University, Middlebury College, Yeshiva University, and the University of Michigan. Kingdon receives allocations from Bowdoin College, Colby College, State University of New York—Stony Brook, Yeshiva University, and the University of the South. Cooperman has allocations from Clark University, Franklin and Marshall College, and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. Tepper has allocations from Middlebury College and Davidson College. Griffin has Oberlin College as an investor. Singer receives an allocation from Vassar College.

ALMOST COMMON THREADS

Some characteristics are shared by many of the interviewed managers—but not all of them. For example, most of them became interested in investing at an early age—often as a teenager. A large percentage of this elite group attended Ivy League schools and/or received MBAs.

Most tend to be opportunistic in their approach—moving freely to where investment advantages and geographic advantages exist. A few have gravitated to their core competency after having difficulty. Fundamental research is generally important to their success. Most of their roles have evolved into that of a coordinator or overseer of the organi-