Another giant endowment is searching for a new leader following the resignation this week of Bruce Zimmerman as chief of University of Texas Investment Management Co.
Mr. Zimmerman managed $37 billion in assets for The University of Texas System and The Texas A&M System. The University of Texas System has $24.2 billion, making it the third-largest college endowment in the U.S. behind Harvard University and Yale University, according to figures produced by the universities.
“I was ready to do something else,” said Mr. Zimmerman, who started in 2007 and announced his resignation Monday. “The firm was in a good place.”
The Texas exit is the second high-profile leadership change in the endowment world this year. Harvard last month named Columbia University’s N.P. Narvekar as the new head of its endowment. Harvard’s last endowment chief, Stephen Blyth, left in July after 18 months.
The University of Texas Investment Management Co., or UTIMCO, will appoint an interim investment chief while launching a national search for Mr. Zimmerman’s replacement, a spokeswoman said.
Mr. Zimmerman, who previously served as global head of pension investments at Citigroup Inc., said he would likely return to the private sector.
Returns for UTIMCO’s main fund were 4% in the year ending August 31, according to documents provided by a spokeswoman. That fund returned, on average, 5.42% annually for the 10 years ending Aug. 31, the documents show. The annual 10-year median return for large endowments and foundations as of June 30, 2016 is 5.25%, according to Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service.
UTIMCO Chairman and Regents Vice Chairman Jeffery Hildebrand said Zimmerman “has done a masterful job in maximizing (UTIMCO’s) resources.”
[Source:- wsj]
