Tough times for hedge funds have not diminished the innovation and sophistication with which institutional investors, including large single-family offices and sovereign wealth funds, are allocating to these funds today.
Institutional Investor and Institutional Investor’s Alpha will honor many of those top hedge fund allocators at its 15th annual Hedge Fund Industry Awards gala dinner, being held at the Mandarin Oriental Hotel in New York on Wednesday, June 21st.
Among the hedge fund allocator finalists are KAUST Investment Management Co., University of Toronto Asset Management Corp., John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Teacher Retirement System of Texas, and Korea Investment Corp. Family office nominees include Blue Pool Capital — the Alibaba-backed investment office — and Willett Advisors, Michael Bloomberg’s family office.
The finalists are selected via a stringent review process that starts with a call for nominations from the industry, followed by nominee research and review by the editorial staff, with final decisions made by an editorial review committee. Finalists will now be voted on by industry participants, with the winners to be announced on the night of the dinner. For more information about the dinner or to request a ballot, please visit the event website.
The evening also will honor Citadel founder and CEO Kenneth Griffin with the Lifetime Achievement award for hedge fund managers. Blackstone Alternative Asset Management president and CEO J. Tomilson Hill will be honored with the Lifetime Achievement award for allocators. The winners of the hedge fund manager awards will also be announced at the dinner; a complete list of manager nominees can be found here. The Hedge Fund Rising Stars, a list of 30 up-and-comers in the hedge fund industry, will be announced at the end of the month and also will be honored at the dinner.
Following is a complete list of the hedge fund allocator finalists. They can also be found on the
Hedge Fund Industry Awards website.
Corporate Plan of the Year
Delta Air Lines
The Kroger Co.
Raytheon Co.
UPS Group Trust
Volvo
Endowment of the Year
Amherst College
KAUST Investment Management Co.
Texas Tech University System
University of Southern California
University of Toronto Asset Management Corp.
Foundation of the Year
Carnegie Corp. of New York
Conrad N. Hilton Foundation
The David Geffen Foundation
John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation
W.K. Kellogg Foundation
Health Care System of the Year
Advocate Health Care
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Mount Sinai Health System
NewYork-Presbyterian
Texas Children’s Hospital
Insurance Investor of the Year
Allied World Assurance Co.
Endurance Specialty Holdings
Farmers Insurance Group
Nationwide Mutual Insurance Co.
Prudential Financial
Public Plan of the Year, Large
Canada Pension Plan Investment Board
Employees Retirement System of Texas
Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management Board
Teacher Retirement System of Texas
State of Wisconsin Investment Board
Public Plan of the Year, Small
Colorado Fire & Police Pension Association
Orange County Employees Retirement System
St. Paul Teachers’ Retirement Fund Association
San Bernardino County Employees’ Retirement Association
West Virginia Investment Management Board
Sovereign Wealth Fund of the Year
Alaska Permanent Fund Corp.
GIC
Hong Kong Monetary Authority
Korea Investment Corp.
State Administration of Foreign Exchange
Family Office of the Year
Blue Pool Capital
Duquesne Family Office
Fredriksen Group
OW Management
Willett Advisors
Hedge Fund Consultant of the Year
Gregory Dowling, Fund Evaluation Group
Jonathan Koerner, Albourne Partners
Timothy McCusker, NEPC
Stephen Nesbitt, Cliffwater
Valérie Bénard, Aksia