Meketa Investment Group

Meketa Investment Group (Meketa) is an American investment management and advisory firm headquartered in Westwood, Massachusetts. The company provides investment solutions in both public and private markets to institutional investors.

Background
Meketa was originally founded in 1974 as an investment partnership by James Meketa before it was incorporated under Massachusetts law in 1978 and became registered with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission as an investment advisor. James previously worked for the Harvard University endowment and Meketa originated by providing investment strategy and systems advice to it. In 1978, the firm was hired by its first pension fund client. Meketa rose to prominence as a purveyor of investment advice to pension funds, financial endowments and foundations.

In 1993, Meketa started advising clients on investments related to real estate, infrastructure and natural resources.

In June 2014, Meketa expanded outside the U.S. by opening an office in London to establish a presence in Euorope.

In July 2015, James Meketa who had been CEO of the firm stepped down from his position and Stephen McCourt and Peter Wooley would succeed him as Co-CEOs. A co-CEO structure was chosen due to the firm's geographic breath where McCourt would be based in San Diego while Wolley would be based at the firm's headquarters in Boston. James would take on a new position as Chairman of the board of directors for Meketa where both McCourt and Wooley would report to him. In addition the board of directors expanded to include addition employees.

In January 2019, Meketa announcee that it would be merging with Pension Consulting Alliance (PCA), a boutique consulting firm based in Portland, Oregon that similarly to Meketa, also advised pension funds. This came at a time the industry had heightened competition and more pressure on fees. The combined firm would keep the Meketa brand name and have $1.7 trillion in assets under advisement and $11 billion in assets under management. While it would continue to manage money for clients as well as provide advice, it had no plans to launch investment funds of its own. Both firms hoped the deal would give them more resources in the private markets Meketa originally lost out to PCA in 2014 on a five-year contract to advise on a private equity mandate for CalPERS. However, in March 2017, PCA resigned from its position as advisor and Meketa who replaced it.

In July 2020, Meketa informed its clients that it had secured a Paycheck Protection Program loan to protect its employees due to the adverse effects of the COVID-19 pandemic. It had also stated that it had changed its due diligence process to be fully remote and that its employees could contact investment managers by videotelephony.

In January 2021, Meketa made it mandatory for investment managers to answer questions on Diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). This was so Meketa was able to more thoroughly evaluate managers efforts on DEI metrics.

In July 2021, James Meketa stated that there were three factors that investors should consider when investing. An aging baby boomer generation, the emergence of China as an economic superpower and the effects of climate change.

According to Nasdaq in October 2023, Meketa was the most active investment consultant in the first half of 2023 with regards to private market strategies. It came ahead of its peers, Hamilton Lane, Albourne Partners, Aksia and StepStone Group.

In February 2024, Meketa launched a infrastructure fund from its newly created division, Meketa Capital. While Meketa previously focused on institutional investors this fund was aimed at retail investors.

Meketa is entirely employee owned. Throughout the years, it has expanded its ownership to include more employees.