New CEO Britt Harris’ employment agreement with The University of Texas/Texas A&M Investment Management Company (UTIMCO) includes a $750,000 base salary, a minimum performance bonus of the same amount, a $550,000 signing bonus, a golf membership at a university course, and $1.5 million if he’s involuntarily terminated if he stays with the organization enough time, according to his employment contract obtained by CIO. He’s planning to start work Aug.1.
UTIMCO oversees the $40 billion fund for the two state university systems in Texas.
Harris’s annual salary at his former employer, the $140 billion fund for the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, was $551,250 as of Sept. 1, according to Bloomberg, with bonuses from 2009 to 2015 totaling $2.2 million.
Harris recently made waves in the industry by calling for a different fee model from hedge funds to limit the compensation they took from Texas Teachers. The annual ROI for the Texas Teachers’ fund was 7.38%, for the year ended Aug. 31, 2016, up from .27% in 2015. Prior to Texas Teachers, Harris served briefly as CEO of Bridgewater Associates and managed the pension fund at Verizon Communications.
Harris began his career in the consolidated accounting department of Texas Utilities, where he quickly moved to the treasury group. He spent years during his early career learning emerging investment ideas, managing a holding company, and, by age 28, was named one of the top 25 investors in America. He has since mentored more than 300 financial leaders through the Titans of Investing program at Texas A & M. He was CIO’s Lifetime Achievement Award recipient in 2013.
Related Links:
Britt Harris’ Career: Britt Harris’ Return on Luck
Prof. Britt Harris and His Army of Investing Titans
Tags: Britt Harris, Texas A&M, UTIMCO