University of Houston System's endowment management committee approved hiring DePrince, Race & Zollo and Granahan Investment Management to run $20 million each in active domestic small-cap equities for the system's $1 billion endowment.
The committee approved the hirings at its meeting on Thursday, a webcast of the meeting showed.
Funding will come from reductions in other domestic equity portfolios.
As of Dec. 31, the endowment's actual allocation to equities was 39.3%; the target is 46%.
Separately, the committee approved commitments of $10 million to venture capital fund of funds TrueBridge Capital Partners VIII and $5 million to venture capital fund Mercury Venture Partners V, managed by Mercury Fund.
The committee previously committed $10 million to TrueBridge Capital Partners VII in 2021 and $5 million to Mercury Venture Partners IV in 2017.
As of Dec. 31, the endowment's actual allocation to private markets was 36.4%; the target is 31%.
Investment consultant NEPC assisted.
