Southern Methodist’s Condon resigns from $1.5 billion endowment

Michael Condon, treasurer and chief investment officer at Southern Methodist University, resigned after eight years overseeing one of the largest private college endowments in Texas.

Condon resigned from the Dallas-based school on March 24, Kent Best, a spokesman, said in an e-mail on Monday. No reason was given and Best didn’t respond to a request for further comment. The university, home to the George W. Bush Presidential Library and Museum, will seek a new chief to manage the $1.5 billion fund, Best said. Condon couldn’t immediately be reached for comment.

Christine Regis, the chief financial officer, will serve as interim chief investment officer, Best said.

The departure is the third from the endowment since October, including Adrienne Bowyer Smith, an investment analyst, who confirmed in a phone interview on Monday that she had left.

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Condon joined SMU from the University of Arkansas Foundation in 2008 and previously worked at the Georgia Tech Foundation, according to a university bio.

Southern Methodist produced a 4.1 percent investment return in the year through June 30, 2015, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. Over a decade the fund gained 8.7 percent, the third best among the 15 private southern colleges with more than $900 million of assets that are tracked by Bloomberg.

Rice University has the largest private college endowment in Texas at $5.6 billion, followed by Texas Christian University and SMU, each at $1.5 billion as of June 30.

The university said in an annual report that venture capital investments were a “significant contributor to performance” last year.