January 30, 2007
UNIVERSITY OF HOUSTON SYSTEM
BOARD OF REGENTS
ENDOWMENT MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
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Members Present:
Michael J. Cemo, Chair
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Others Members Present:
Leroy L. Hermes Other Members Absent: Jim P. Wise, Vice Chair |
The Endowment Management Committee of the University of Houston System Board of Regents convened in Room 220 ECullen Building, University of Houston, on Tuesday, January 30, 2007. Noting the presence of a quorum, Chairman Cemo called the meeting to order at 2:02 p.m.
Chairman Cemo called on Bruce Myers and Hamilton Lee of Cambridge Associates to give a summary of the endowment performance and an overview of the market. Mr. Lee gave a brief outline of the Discussion Materials that were distributed to the Board of Regents for the meeting. Copies of this material are on file in the Board office. Mr. Lee discussed the following:
- Recap of global capital market performance over the past one-, three-, and five- year periods.
- Cambridge Associates provided a report on the endowment. The endowment has returned 6.5% and 15.2% for the quarter and trailing 1 year, respectively as of December 31, 2006. These results outperformed the Cambridge endowment median of 6.25% and 14.8% for the quarter and trailing 1 year, respectively. The endowment also outperformed its dynamic benchmark.
Bruce Myers introduced Bill Jansen, Greg Jansen and Jackie Carr of Commonfund to give a brief presentation of their private equity funds. A copy of their material is on file in the Board office.
The committee took the following action during the meeting related to investment managers:
- Approval of investment in Commonfund Capital Private Equity Partners, VII
- Approval of investment in Commonfund Capital International Partners, VI
- Approval of investment in Newlin Realty Partners II
- Approved investment manager guidelines for Smith Asset Management, a large cap equity growth manager approved by the Board in November 2006.
The contract with Cambridge Associates was discussed. Dr. Rudley gave a brief overview of the contract and recommended that their contract be renewed for an additional one year period. Regent O’Connor moved committee approval of the bundled services option to renew the contract for Cambridge Associates for one year at an approximate cost of $207,500. Regent Stephens seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.
Bruce Myers led a discussion on various strategies for rebalancing the endowment if an asset class exceeds its approved allocation range. Regent Cemo agreed to work with Cambridge Associates and UH staff to draft changes to the investment policy related to this topic. The goal is to submit the changes to the Endowment Management Committee at the May 1, 2007 meeting.
There being no further business to come before the committee, the meeting adjourned at 3:56 p.m.
All documentation submitted to the Board in support of the foregoing action items, including but not limited to “Passed” agenda items and supporting documentation presented to the Board, is incorporated herein and made a part of these minutes for all purposes; however, this does not constitute a waiver of any privileges contained herein.
| Others |
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Jay Gogue
John M. Rudley Donald Foss Dona Hamilton Jim McShan Raymond Bartlett Joe Kotarba Bruce Myers Hamilton Lee Roberta Puryear Janis Newman Gerry Mathisen |
