UTIMCO’s CEO steps down

The University of Texas Investment Management Company (UTIMCO) has lost its chief executive, the endowment said Monday.

Bruce Zimmerman stepped down after leading the Austin-based system for nearly a decade as CEO and chief investment officer. Prior to his time at UTIMCO, he had been Citigroup’s CIO and global head of pension investments.

In a statement, Zimmerman did not disclose his future plans.

UTIMCO’s board will appoint an interim CEO and CIO and will launch a national search for Zimmerman’s permanent replacement. Founded in 1996, UTIMCO is the third-largest endowment in the US, behind Yale University and Harvard University, according to Monday’s statement. The entity manages the endowments for The University of Texas System and The Texas A&M System.

“UTIMCO plays a crucial role in supporting everything we do at The University of Texas System and Bruce has done a masterful job in maximizing those resources,” Jeffery Hildebrand, the endowment’s chairman, said in a statement Monday. “Bruce built an organization and a business model that truly reflects…a ‘team of teams’ approach, capitalizing on the creativity and intellect of many external partners and internal colleagues.”

Real estate comprised 7.2 percent, or $1.9 billion, of UTIMCO’s $25.7 billion portfolio as of August 31, 2015, according to the endowment’s most recent publicly-available annual report. UTIMCO’s most recent publicly disclosed transaction was the June sale of the Montcrief Cancer Institute, an office building in Fort Worth, Texas, according to data provider Real Capital Analytics, which did not disclose the sale price.

Zimmerman’s resignation comes amid recent leadership changes at other major university endowments, notably Harvard University, whose CEO, Stephen Blyth, stepped down in July after just 18 months in the role. Harvard said last month that Nirmal Narvekar, formerly the CEO of Columbia University’s endowment, will take Blyth’s place starting in December. Columbia in turn promoted Peter Holland, its CIO since 2003, to CEO, PERE previously reported.