University of Houston System terminated Aberdeen Asset Management as emerging markets equity manager for its $592 million endowment fund, said Raymond Bartlett, treasurer of the system, in an e-mail.
The termination “stems from a concern that the firm has grown too large to be nimble in its strategy,” wrote Mr. Bartlett. Aberdeen managed $26.3 million for the endowment.
Aberdeen will be replaced by two new managers who will run a total of $35 million. Mr. Bartlett declined to comment on who the new managers will be because contracts have not been negotiated yet.
Funding will come from the Aberdeen termination and U.S. equities.
Also, the endowment is investing $10 million in a new long/short equity hedge fund manager. The new manager will replace Scout Capital, who returned capital to investors earlier this year, wrote Mr. Bartlett. He declined to comment on the name of the fund and the new manager because the contract has not been negotiated yet.
Separately, the endowment redeemed its $4.6 million investment in Samlyn Offshore, a long/short equity hedge fund managed by Samlyn Capital. The redemption was made because of “the opportunity to invest elsewhere,” Mr. Bartlett said.
