TIAA-CREF Expands Endowment Management Biz

Led by Scott W. Wise and based in Houston, Texas, Covariance will operate independently as a wholly-owned subsidiary of TIAA, providing outsourced Chief Investment Officer (CIO) services to nonprofits with assets under management of $100 million or greater. Covariance will offer clients access to third-party investment managers in traditional as well as alternative asset classes such as private equity, real estate, commodities and hedge funds.   

TIAA-CREF also announced it is providing Covariance with $1 billion in seed capital to be managed as a diversified investment portfolio.    

Covariance introduced the following senior investment professionals: 

• Michael J. Jawor joins as Deputy Chief Investment Officer.  Jawor was previously Chief Investment Officer at Glenwood Capital Investments, a $5 billion AUM fund of hedge fund subsidiary of Man Group.  Prior to that, he was co-portfolio manager of Sirius Partners, a fund of hedge funds.  Jawor joined Sirius Partners after a thirteen-year career at the First National Bank of Chicago. 
• Daniel E. Feder joins as Senior Investment Manager – Private Equity and Venture Capital.  Feder was previously Managing Director of Private Markets at Sequoia Capital Heritage Fund.  From 2000 to 2008, he was the Managing Director of private equity and venture capital with the investment office for Princeton University’s endowment.  Feder also led a wide range of private markets investments at CIGNA Investment Management and CalPERS. 
• Ansel C. Mullins joins as Senior Investment Manager – Public Markets and Hedge Funds.  Mullins previously served as Managing Director and Partner at the credit hedge fund Wave Management.  Prior to this, he was a Managing Director at Investcorp, an alternatives firm with lines of business in private equity, real estate and hedge funds. 
• Holly A. Hardy joins as Senior Investment Manager – Real Assets.  Hardy has eighteen years of experience with Rice University’s endowment fund managing its energy and real estate investments.  Prior to this role, she worked for five years as a trust officer at Texas Commerce Bank overseeing oil and gas assets and seven years as a landman with TXO Production Corp. 
• Andrea V. Reed joins as Chief Operating Officer.  Reed previously served as a Partner at Perella Weinberg Partners and Risk Manager for the Perella Agility Funds.    Prior to this, she worked as the Risk Manager for the University of Texas endowment funds (UTIMCO) and served as the Portfolio Risk Manager for Rice University. 

Covariance has also recently added the following senior members to the team: 

• Shannon H. Morton joins as Managing Director – Marketing and Investor Relations. Most recently, Morton was Vice President and Senior Portfolio Manager for AllianceBernstein Investments.  Prior to that, she was a Partner and Senior Client Portfolio Manager for AIM Private Asset Management and AIM Investments. 
• Sheel J. Patel joins as Chief Financial Officer.  Patel was previously the CFO for Simmons and Company International, an independent investment bank specializing in the energy industry.  Prior to that, she worked at PricewaterhouseCoopers, LLP for more than ten years within the Assurance practice.