The endowments and foundations’ right hand man beefs up personnel.

On October 3, Mercer, a wholly owned subsidiary of Marsh & McClennan Companies, announced Sue Crosby will join the investment consultancy as a partner based in New York. Crosby’s main focus will be to strengthen Mercer’s implemented consulting business in the endowments and foundations space.

Crosby’s post is part of the global consultancy’s initiative to expand more into the wealth management space, and follows the recent acquisitions of boutique wealth management consultancies, Hammond Associates and Evaluation Associates in January and May of this year, respectively.

“Over the last eight years, a large percentage of endowments and foundations retain a consultant for one reason or another. It’s not project work, just a retainer relationship,” Crosby told Markets Media. “There is a little bit of a trend toward specialized consultants for the large institutions over 500 million.”

Crosby noted that those which utilize specialized consultants are typically institutions with over 500 million assets under management. Specializations of these professionals include “asset classes, or tactical implementation,” she said.

Prior to joining Mercer, Crosby initiated the endowment and foundation relationship management effort at Merrill Lynch. Most recently she led business development for Perella Weinberg, an investment outsourcing provider. There, she was responsible for growing the investment outsourcing asset management service focused on institutional clients including endowments, foundations, wealth management and other long-term investors.

Crosby also served on the board of The Northern Illinois University Foundation and on its investment committee from 2004 to 2006. She is also a graduate of Northern Illinois University, and holds a doctorate degree in economics.

Jeff Schutes, who heads Mercer’s U.S Investment Consulting business, noted the firm’s excitement over Crosby’s “caliber and professional accomplishments,” confident that she would “look to further grow and strengthen their business.”