Attendees spoken to by HFMWeek  at the 2009 Nacubo (National Association of College and University Business Officers) Endowment Management Forum expressed particular interest in the strategy.

The $670m Texas Tech University endowment has recently hired a number of global long/short managers, according to Chris Gailey, senior analyst. And the $600m University of Tennessee is also looking at the space, according to Charles Peccolo, vice president and treasurer.

David Shukis, director of hedge fund research and consulting at Cambridge Associates, revealed there is also interest in global long/short equity hedge funds, “as the hedge fund market develops in Asia, Europe and Latin America.”
Universities are also looking to catch the end of a trend that has seen traditionally closed hedge funds open their doors to capital for the first time in years.

Although both Brevan Howard Asia Fund and Brevan Howard Emerging Market Strategies Fund have reportedly closed to new investors, as has Tudor’s BVI Global fund, opportunities do still exist, according to Jonathan Hook, vice president and CIO at the Ohio State University. Hook said the endowment was trying to get into selected long/short managers that opened up before they close again.