Gold Bullion Delivery for Texas Endowment

THE SECOND-LARGEST academic fund in the US has taken delivery of physical Gold Bullion, according to the fund's board.

The University of Texas Investment Management Co. (UTIMCO), which has assets worth $19.9 billion, increased its exposure to Gold Futures last year, adding an additional stake worth $500 million.

Now it has decided to convert its position – worth just under $1 billion – into physical Gold Bullion, which it will store in a New York vault.

"Central banks are printing more money than they ever have, so what's the value of money in terms of purchases of goods and services," said Kyle Bass, a Dallas hedge fund manager and member of UTIMCO's board, in a telephone interview with Bloomberg. "I look at gold as just another currency that they can't print any more of."

A number of large investment funds have bought physical gold in recent years, including hedge funds Paulson and Co. – which manages a total of $36 billion in assets – and Greenlight Capital – which manages $2 billion.

GFMS, the precious metals consultancy, revealed last week that demand for physical Gold Bars grew by 65.9% in 2010.

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