Contact: Monty Jones, (512) 499-4363

Date:

UT System News Release

Open-Meeting Policy Approved for UTIMCO

AUSTIN – An open-meeting policy consistent with the state law that applies to public universities and investment agencies was approved on Friday (September 3) for the University of Texas Investment Management Co., a private non-profit corporation that manages investment assets on behalf of the U. T. System Board of Regents.

Under the new policy approved by the Board of Regents, most of the meetings of the UTIMCO board of directors will be open to the public and the news media. As with the boards of public universities and agencies, the UTIMCO board will be permitted to meet in executive session to discuss litigation, personnel matters, real estate transactions, and certain prospective donations. Decisions on such matters would have to be made in public.

In addition, the new policy allows the UTIMCO board to hold a closed "briefing" session to confer on certain potential investments if public disclosure of information would give advantage to a competitor. During such conferences, members of the UTIMCO board may only ask questions and receive information and may not deliberate among themselves on UTIMCO business or make any decisions.

The provision for closed briefing sessions is the same as allowed by state law for the Texas Growth Fund, a state fund that makes investments to promote economic development.

"This new policy for UTIMCO will expand access by the people of Texas to information about the investment of their university resources, while also enabling UTIMCO to fulfill its critically important function of enhancing the investment return on these assets," said Donald L. Evans, chairman of the Board of Regents.

"A vast amount of information about UTIMCO and its investments has already been available to the public, through annual reports, the UTIMCO site on the World Wide Web, and other means. Today’s action extends and enhances our commitment to open government and public access to information."

Chancellor William H. Cunningham, who developed the new policy and recommended it to the regents, said: "Through its approval of this policy, the Board of Regents has affirmed its recognition that the public has a valid interest in UTIMCO meetings being open to the public. In developing the policy, the letter and spirit of the Texas Open Meetings Act have been our guide."

UTIMCO was created by the Board of Regents in 1996 to manage all investments that are under the fiduciary care of the regents. It oversees investments that are currently worth approximately $13.5 billion, including the Permanent University Fund and other endowment funds. The UTIMCO board of directors is composed of three U. T. System regents, the U. T. System chancellor, and five outside investment professionals.

More information about UTIMCO is available on the World Wide Web at www.utimco.org