Denison University, Granville, Ohio, hired Cliffwater as general consultant for its $470 million consolidated endowment. Cliffwater replaced another firm which Michael Horst, director of finance, declined to identify. Mr. Horst said that although Cliffwater specializes in alternative investments, the fund's board members were impressed enough with its asset allocation research to hire it as its general consultant. The endowment allocates 25% of its assets to hedge funds and 9% to private equity. "Cliffwater's initial focus will be to review the portfolio, especially our alternatives managers," said Mr. Horst, although he emphasized that there are no initial plans to search for managers or increase the fund's alternatives portfolio.
The school's consultant was Fund Evaluation Group, according to the Money Market Directory. Calls to Scott Harsh, FEG's president, were not returned by press time.
