Permanent University Fund - Management

Management

The PUF's land assets are managed by the University of Texas System Administration. The PUF's fiduciary assets are managed by the University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO), a nonprofit group formed to manage various assets of the UT System and governed by a volunteer Board of Directors. The Board is composed of three member of the UT System Board of Regents, one person selected from a Texas A&M University System Board of Regents list, the chancellor of the UT System, and four investment professionals selected by the UT System Board of Regents. In addition, UTIMC has a Chief Executive Officer and Chief Investment Officer appointed by the Board and a President appointed by the CEO and Board; all employees of UTIMC except the nine-member Board of Directors receive a salary and are eligible for annual bonuses.

We did what we thought was right. We felt like we had an obligation. Some people may feel like you can walk away from your contracts. We had an obligation to these people.

In February 2009, UTIMC drew criticism from the state's legislative and executive branches for awarding bonuses to employees despite the global financial crisis of 2008–2009. Robert Rowling, chairman of UTIMC and vice chairman of the UT Austin Board of Regents, insisted that the bonuses he authorized were for the fiscal year ending 31 July 2008, in which the PUF net fiduciary assets decreased by 3.26%, or $383 million, as compared to nearly 14% for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. The Chairman of the Board of Regents defended Rowling, stating that the contracts obligated bonus payment and the large amounts, $1.05 million for the UTIMC CEO and $2.3 million for other employees combined, were fairly inflexible.

Governor Rick Perry and Lieutenant Governor David Dewhurst criticized "e can’t imagine how such compensation is justified considering that in the same month this meeting was held, reports surfaced that UTIMCO’s earnings for the year had dropped an estimated 23 percent." Perry's spokeswoman attacked the contracts, stating, "The compensation structure ought to incorporate the health of the fund, whereby incentives are not immediately paid out if the fund is in the red." State Senator Kevin Eltife criticized CEO Bruce Zimmerman's bonus. "Most people out there on the street are scared to death and we just paid you a million-dollar bonus If there's that much money floating around, maybe there's too much." After heated interrogation by the State Senate Finance Committee, Rowling resigned from both his chairmanship of UTIMC and vice chairmanship of UT Austin's Board of Regents.