The Texas Permanent School Fund has tapped a new chief executive officer to oversee its investments and operations.
Robert Borden is set to join the $52 billion endowment on December 1, taking over from Britt Harris, who was serving as interim CEO following Holland Timmons’s departure. Borden will help shepherd TPSF into its new era as a corporation that operates separately from the Texas government.
Borden most recently served as managing partner for Palmetto Research Partners, LLC, an independent financial consulting firm. In 2011 he was a founding partner in the launch of Delegate Advisors and served as CEO/CIO. He concluded the sale of his interest in the firm in 2022.
Prior to Delegate Advisors, Borden held two chief investment officer posts. He managed $28 billion on behalf of the South Carolina Investment Commission for five years as its investment chief. Before that, he spent 11 years as the CIO for the Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System.
“We are pleased to bring onboard an award-winning investor and leader of natural stature who will bring visionary leadership to our state's historic public education sovereign wealth fund," said Tom Maynard, chair of the board of directors at TPSF in a statement. "We are excited that we have an eminently qualified leader who has a proven track record in both the private and public investment sectors.”
As its CEO, Borden will be responsible for facilitating strategic planning, developing policy, and setting the fund’s strategic asset allocation, according to the TPSF’s announcement.
The Texas Permanent School Fund, seeded in 1854 with just $2 million, recently went through a massive change. In 2021, Texas legislators granted the TPSF the ability to become a corporation, which allows it to have more independence as an organization and operate more like a private sector company. The fund officially transferred its structure over to a corporation this year.
“I am thrilled to return to my hometown of Austin, honored that the board has given me the opportunity to serve as a steward of the storied Texas Permanent School Fund, and excited at the potential of its newly formed corporation,” Borden said in a statement.
