Baylor University Names New Chief Investment Officer

April 26, 2010
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R. Brian Webb

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After a comprehensive national search, Baylor University has named Dr. R. Brian Webb, Managing Director of UBS Global Asset Management in Dallas, as the university's Chief Investment Officer. He will join Baylor on June 1.

Webb will work directly with the Baylor Executive Investment Committee, a group of investment professionals who are appointed by the Board of Regents and charged with the responsibility of oversight of the day-to-day practices and operations of the endowment by the Office of Investments.

"Baylor University has found a remarkable investment professional in Dr. Webb, who brings to the university a distinctive combination of superior academic achievements and significant success in the private sector," said Dr. David E. Garland, Baylor's interim president and dean of George W. Truett Theological Seminary. "Dr. Webb's abundant investment experience will help ensure the university's future financial strength".

"Dr. Webb was unanimously recommended to the board by the search committee, and I commend them for conducting a very thoughtful and thorough search," said R. Dary Stone, chair of the Baylor Board of Regents. "Brian's global experience in investment management and research will allow us to face today's economic challenges with confidence and focus on the future growth of Baylor's endowment."

Webb will lead a staff of five and report to Dr. Reagan Ramsower, vice president for finance and administration, who also is chair of the Baylor Executive Investment Committee. The Chief Investment Officer recommends investment strategies and investment managers for the university's endowment and other assets; advises administrative committees on investment policy; and ensures accountability of the investment managers for meeting Baylor's expected financial returns, adherence to guidelines, reporting and service provision.

"Dr. Webb's highly significant business career after having been successful in academia is a testament to the broad range of skills he brings as Chief Investment Officer," Ramsower said. "He has worked with large institutional investors and across substantial pools of capital around the world for the past seventeen years. His academic research in all of the facets of modern portfolio theory and other investment strategies will enrich Baylor's endowment strategies."

A native Texan, Webb earned two degrees from Baylor, his BBA in finance in 1977, followed by his MBA in 1979. He began his career in academia as a lecturer in finance and economics at Baylor from 1979-81. His academic pursuit was interrupted for the next fours years, however, as he returned to operate his family's farm in Navada, Texas. He returned to academia in 1985, serving for a year as a lecturer in finance at Southern Methodist University, before beginning work on his doctorate in finance at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

After earning his Ph.D. in 1990, Webb was recruited to Indiana University, Bloomington, as an assistant professor of finance. In 1993, he joined Aetna Realty Investors in Hartford, Conn., and began conducting real estate research that impacted their investments in real estate. His responsibilities included serving on the investment strategy committee making allocation decisions across the major asset classes. Aetna later became Allegis Realty Investors, with Webb becoming a partner in a highly successful independent real estate investment firm that served institutional accounts, including retirement plans and endowments throughout the United States. The organization grew substantially and was ultimately acquired by UBS in 2000.

Operating within the UBS umbrella, the real estate investment business became global, with Webb serving as head of Global Real Estate Research from 2000-2004. Dr. Webb worked with the quantitative group of UBS in developing pricing models for real estate consistent with the models used for stock and bond investments. In 2004, he was appointed CEO of UBS AgriVest.

"I am excited about the opportunity to return to my alma mater and serve the Baylor community in these exciting times," Webb said. "I look forward to working with the faculty, staff, alumni and others in growing the endowment in line with the goals of the university. I deeply believe in the vision of Baylor University to integrate academic excellence with Christian commitment, and will strive for the investment office to financially, intellectually and spiritually support this mission."

Webb and his wife Margaret, BSED '81, have three children: son Brad, BBA '06, and his wife Remy, BA '07; daughter Emily, BBA '07, MSECO '09, and her husband Kolby Kerr, Wheaton College, BA '06; and son Russell, a sophomore at Baylor.

Webb's selection follows a national search to fill the position after Kent Muckel left Baylor in December 2009 to join global asset management firm Perella Weinberg Partners in Colorado.

Media contact: Lori Fogleman, director of media communications, (254) 710-6275