Key Takeaways
- • Institutional Investor's 17th annual Hedge Fund Industry Awards will announce winners on June 27, 2019, in New York, with finalist allocators representing the industry's most sophisticated institutional investors across public pensions, endowments, and outsourced Chief Investment Officer platforms.
- • Public pension finalists include the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, New Mexico's public employee pension fund, Massachusetts' MassPRIM, Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, Illinois Teachers' fund, and Texas Teachers' Retirement System (TRS), demonstrating strong representation from large-scale institutional allocators.
- • Texas Teachers' Retirement System, under CIO Jerry Albright and deputy CIO Jase Auby, has established itself as a competitive finalist through bold emerging-manager initiatives and strategic portfolio construction since assuming leadership in 2017.
- • The $45 billion University of Texas investment company (UTIMCO), led by former TRS chief Britt Harris, competes in the Endowment of the Year category against Yale University, Bowdoin College, and Villanova, representing significant cross-organizational talent movement within institutional investment leadership.
- • The Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) category features six finalist firms competing for recognition, with the sector experiencing robust inflows and growth in recent years, distinguishing it from hedge fund performance volatility highlighted by 2018 market conditions.
Summary
Institutional Investor's 17th annual Hedge Fund Industry Awards recognize elite allocators whose manager selection and portfolio construction capabilities have distinguished them during challenging market periods like 2018. The awards gala on June 27, 2019, will reveal winners across both allocator and manager categories, celebrating institutions that have demonstrated exceptional skill in navigating competitive investment landscapes.
The allocator finalists represent a concentration of institutional sophistication across public pension systems and endowments. Large public plans dominate the finalist pool, including the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, New Mexico's public employee pension fund, MassPRIM, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, and teachers' funds from Illinois and Texas. This geographic and organizational diversity reflects the awards' emphasis on institutional scale and governance excellence. Texas Teachers' Retirement System has earned particular recognition under newly appointed leadership. CIO Jerry Albright and deputy CIO Jase Auby inherited an established hedge fund program in 2017 and have aggressively reshaped it through significant emerging-manager allocations, positioning TRS as a finalist recognized for strategic innovation rather than historical momentum alone.
The awards reveal notable career trajectories within institutional investing. UTIMCO, the $45 billion University of Texas investment company, is a finalist for Endowment of the Year, led by Britt Harris, the former chief of Texas Teachers' Retirement System, alongside several of his longtime deputies. This cross-organizational movement demonstrates the talent concentration within elite institutional investment circles. UTIMCO competes against endowments of varying scale, including Yale University (led by David Swensen), Bowdoin College, and Villanova, highlighting how excellence in institutional portfolio management transcends asset size.
The Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) sector represents a notable bright spot within alternative investing. Unlike hedge funds, which faced performance pressures in 2018, the OCIO category has experienced sustained growth. Six finalist firms in this category have capitalized on abundant inflows, suggesting that allocators increasingly favor outsourced portfolio construction expertise. This trend reflects a strategic shift toward specialized third-party management of institutional capital allocation decisions.
The allocator finalists represent a concentration of institutional sophistication across public pension systems and endowments. Large public plans dominate the finalist pool, including the State of Wisconsin Investment Board, New Mexico's public employee pension fund, MassPRIM, the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System, and teachers' funds from Illinois and Texas. This geographic and organizational diversity reflects the awards' emphasis on institutional scale and governance excellence. Texas Teachers' Retirement System has earned particular recognition under newly appointed leadership. CIO Jerry Albright and deputy CIO Jase Auby inherited an established hedge fund program in 2017 and have aggressively reshaped it through significant emerging-manager allocations, positioning TRS as a finalist recognized for strategic innovation rather than historical momentum alone.
The awards reveal notable career trajectories within institutional investing. UTIMCO, the $45 billion University of Texas investment company, is a finalist for Endowment of the Year, led by Britt Harris, the former chief of Texas Teachers' Retirement System, alongside several of his longtime deputies. This cross-organizational movement demonstrates the talent concentration within elite institutional investment circles. UTIMCO competes against endowments of varying scale, including Yale University (led by David Swensen), Bowdoin College, and Villanova, highlighting how excellence in institutional portfolio management transcends asset size.
The Outsourced Chief Investment Officer (OCIO) sector represents a notable bright spot within alternative investing. Unlike hedge funds, which faced performance pressures in 2018, the OCIO category has experienced sustained growth. Six finalist firms in this category have capitalized on abundant inflows, suggesting that allocators increasingly favor outsourced portfolio construction expertise. This trend reflects a strategic shift toward specialized third-party management of institutional capital allocation decisions.
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