Robert Lee will join the Austin-based endowment management team of Texas Tech University System, Lubbock, as deputy chief investment officer on Oct. 1.
Mr. Lee will have responsibility for the risk mitigation, private energy and private real estate portfolios for the $1 billion endowment, said Timothy Barrett, chief investment officer, in an e-mail. He replaces Brian King, who held the title of senior investment officer and has left TTU. Mr. King’s future plans could not be learned.
Mr. Lee is the endowment’s second deputy CIO appointment this year: Dan D. Parker joined the endowment Thursday and oversees public and private equity, Mr. Barrett said.
Michael Nichols, also a deputy CIO, monitors public and private credit strategies, while Mr. Barrett said he is in charge of derivatives and the fund’s absolute-return portfolio.
The appointments of Messrs. Lee and Parker are part of a recent build out of the investment department, which Mr. Barrett said was understaffed. TTU upgraded the endowment staff titles to deputy CIO “as we were targeting deeper experience levels” in recruiting new team members, Mr. Barrett said.
Mr. Lee, who is leaving the $25 billion Texas Employees Retirement System, Austin, on Sept. 15, is director of hedge fund investments. Anthony Curtiss will assume Mr. Lee’s position on an interim basis, said CIO Charles “Tom” Tull in a telephone interview. Mr. Curtiss is a portfolio manager who works closely with Mr. Lee in managing the pension fund’s $1.2 billion hedge fund portfolio.
It’s not clear yet whether ERS will conduct a formal search for Mr. Lee’s replacement, Mr. Tull said.
Mr. Parker was investment officer at the $5.55 billion Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, New York. Information about his replacement there could not be learned by press time.
