24/08/2011 Author: Kirstie Brewer

Texas Tech University makes two new hires

The $800m Texas Tech University System (TTUS) has hired Graham Capital and Comac Capital, allocating $15m to each, HFMWeek can exclusively reveal.

The endowment fund, which allocates between 30-35% of its investment portfolio to hedge fund structures, approved the new fund managers on the advice of The Investment Advisory Committee (IAC) in May.

“We were interested in adding more global macro-style investing to our portfolio because we believe that global macro strategies will improve the diversification of the overall portfolio”, Gary Ratliff, CIO for the endowment fund told HFMWeek.

The IAC recommended Graham Capital Management, a quantitative hedge fund that utilises multiple strategies, on the basis that it “produces uncorrelated and attractive risk-adjusted returns”, according to documents seen by HFMWeek.   
Comac Capital, a global macro strategy, was picked by the IAC because of its focus on, “fixed income and foreign exchange to express the fund’s views regarding directional global market movements,” the documents stated.  

“These strategies tend to have a low correlation with funds focusing on equity and credit”, the documents continue.
HFMWeek revealed earlier this year that TTUS had hired Argonaut Capital Management and Discovery Capital Management, adding to a hedge fund portfolio which includes Taconic, Wexford, Silverpoint, Kingdon, Davidson Kempner Capital, King Street and Blenheim.