UTIMCO Hires Harvard Executive as Deputy CIO

Rich Hall, private equity head at Harvard Management Co., has been hired as deputy CIO at UTIMCO. By Alicia McElhaney and Amy Whyte.

Rich Hall steps down as private equity head for Harvard Management Company

Rich Hall steps down as private equity head for Harvard Management Company

Less than a year after welcoming a new chief investment officer, the University of Texas Investment Management Co. is getting a deputy CIO.

Rich Hall is stepping down as head of private equity investing at Harvard Management Co. to take on the role of deputy CIO for UTIMCO, Narv Narvekar, chief executive officer of Harvard University’s endowment, said in an internal memo Wednesday. Hall’s last day with HMC will be February 2.

He’s changing jobs at a time of transition for both university endowments. UTIMCO hired Britt Harris as its new CIO in June, while Harvard Management Co. has been making major changes to its staff and the way it invests since Narvekar took over as CEO in December 2016.

“Rich has proven himself to be a talented investor, a responsible steward of the university’s resources and a wonderful colleague,” Narvekar wrote in the memo. “He also played an integral role in adapting our team to the generalist model over the past year.”

Hall joined Harvard in 2014 from the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, where he previously worked with Harris. His move to UTIMCO was first reported by Axios on Wednesday.

“I feel very fortunate to return to Texas and to be a part of UTIMCO’s leadership team,” Hall said in a statement. “Personally, I consider it a great privilege to serve both the UT and A&M University systems and to support their missions as world-class educational and research institutions that significantly impact the state of Texas and the broader global community.”

Sponsored

UTIMCO also announced Thursday that it has hired Scott Slayton to act as managing director of asset allocation. Slayton most recently worked for Jamison Capital Partners, according to UTIMCO.

Harvard’s endowment, which has roughly $37 billion under management, is shifting toward outsourcing its investments in a move away from a hybrid model of internally and externally managed assets.

[II Deep Dive: Harvard Endowment’s Rebirth]

Hall isn’t the only Harvard departure announced this week.

New York Public Library said January 9 that it hired Geetanjali Gupta from the university endowment to serve as its chief investment officer. After more than 10 years with Harvard Management Co., she has most recently served as the endowment’s senior vice president of absolute return and public market funds.

Gupta will begin her new role next month, according to the New York Public Library.

Related