State Board of Education News

Texas Permanent School Fund wins three international awards

The Texas Permanent School Fund (PSF) recently received three awards recognizing its hedge fund and real estate programs.

On June 27, at the Institutional Investor’s 17th Annual Hedge Fund Industry Awards in New York, the PSF was announced as the winner in the Sovereign Wealth Fund of the Year category.

“We are honored to be recognized internationally, especially amongst such an elite group. We have moved carefully to diversify the assets in a global portfolio intended to enhance the risk return characteristics of the fund,” said Holland Timmins, the PSF executive administrator and chief investment officer.

Additionally, at the 2019 IPE Real Estate Global Conference on May 16, the PSF’s real estate program received awards in the categories of Investment in North America and Portfolio Construction.

The PSF was also short-listed in the Debt Strategy, Indirect Strategy, and in the Global Real Estate Investor of the Year categories.

 “The Permanent School Fund has often been called a Texas treasure. It’s humbling to find that it has a growing international stature,” Timmins said.
 
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The PSF, established in 1845, is both a public endowment and the 26th largest Sovereign Wealth Fund globally.  With total assets of $44 billion, the PSF provides annual distributions to Texas public schools and, with its AAA rating, guarantees over $80 billion of public school bonds, providing an estimated $200 million in annual interest savings to Texas schools.  Approximately $34 billion of the PSF is managed by the Texas State Board of Education (SBOE). The remaining assets are managed by the School Land Board.  Unless otherwise indicated, all references to the PSF in this release refer to the SBOE-managed portion of the PSF.