PA-subsidized school: Hedge fund ripped us off
Pitt says it pumped $65 million into Westridge Capital Management, whose bosses have been busted for allegedly stealing $554 million in client funds: report
The University of Pittsburgh, the well-endowed, "state-affiliated" and taxpayer-subsidized institution that helps prop up post-industrial Pittsburgh, "invested $21.3 million with hedge-fund managers Paul Greenwood and Stephen Walsh less than three weeks before they were arrested for allegedly misappropriating $554 million in client funds," writes Bloomberg in this story.
"The university's endowment, valued at $2.33 billion as of June 30, had (a total of) $65 million with the pair's Westridge Capital Management Inc., according to a complaint filed against the firm by the school and Carnegie Mellon University. Pitt began investing with the Santa Barbara, California-based firm in November 2002, while Carnegie Mellon, which had $49 million with Greenwood and Walsh, first invested in April."
The Pennsylvania Public School Employees' Retirement System had planned to give Westridge another $1 billion, but decided against it after the Westridge managers were arrested, says the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette here.