Records show the investment arm of two major Texas universities bought shares in more than 50 Chinese companies.
On September 23, the American Accountability Foundation exposed how the University of Texas/Texas A&M Investment Management Company’s asset managers advanced leftist ideology through their shareholder resolutions.
On October 17, UTIMCO President and CEO Richard Hall told state senators that he was “not happy with those votes” and the firm “would do better.”
However, a deeper dive into the records AAF acquired also revealed concerning investments. According to records, UTIMCO has invested money in Chinese companies.
UTIMCO allocated some of its assets to the following entities: Connor, Clark & Lunn Investment Management, JP Morgan Asset Management, and Acadian Asset Management. The three asset managers participated in shareholder votes in China-based companies, revealing the UTIMCO investments in these businesses.
In October 2023, Connor, Clark & Lunn participated in a shareholder vote for Topsec Technologies Group, a China-based cyber security company. Reuters reported that Topsec provides “network security products, big data products, and cloud services to customers in various industries such as government, finance, operators, energy, health, education, transportation, and manufacturing.”
There were shareholder votes for Huaneng Power International, Inc., a power company that boasts of being “one of the largest listed power producers” in China. Their parent company is China Huaneng Group Co., Ltd., which owns more than 50 percent of HPI shares. According to their website, the company is “a key state-owned company established with the approval of the [China] State Council.”
In December 2023, the management company Connor, Clark & Lunn Investment Management voted 19 times for electing various individuals as directors or supervisors of the Chinese company.
China, under the Chinese Communist Party, has been identified as a national security threat by the Office of the U.S. Director of National Intelligence.
As a communist nation, Chinese companies exist only with the party’s approval. This is exemplified by TikTok, under the parent company Tencent, which has ties to the CCP.
Adding to the problem, The University of Texas System and the Texas A&M University System (TAMUS) are taxpayer-funded state entities. Additionally, Texas A&M, a subsidiary of TAMUS, is a U.S. defense contractor. Multiple campuses under the University of Texas System are also U.S. defense contractors.
AAF records showed other investments into China by UTIMCO fund managers, including BOE Technology Group Co., Ltd., Haier Smart Home Co., Ltd., Opple Lighting Co., Ltd., and LONGi Green Energy Technology Co., Ltd.
In 2021, the U.S. Department of State issued a fact sheet on American academic institutions investing in China. It outlined how U.S. investors have unknowingly been using university endowments to fund work by Communist Chinese Military Companies.
In November 2020, the Trump administration issued an executive order prohibiting investments by U.S. persons “in ‘ostensibly private and civilian’ companies that ‘directly support the PRC’s [People’s Republic of China] military, intelligence, and security apparatuses.’” In June 2021, the Biden-Harris administration expanded the order to include Chinese corporations that operated or still operate in Chinese defense and surveillance. The companies in AAF’s findings are not listed in the Department of Defense’s list of Communist Chinese military companies.
Regents from the University of Texas and the Texas A&M University Systems are on the nine-member UTIMCO board of directors. Jodie Jiles, James Weaver, and Janiece Longoria represent the University of Texas System Board of Regents. The TAMUS Board of Regents is represented by regents Jay Graham and David Baggett. The UT System has the power to appoint four board members. The TAMUS can appoint two.
Texas Scorecard asked the UT System, the TAMUS, and UTIMCO for comment. UTIMCO referred us to the UT System.
Paul Corliss, the UT System Associate Vice Chancellor for External Relations & Communications, gave the following statement. “UTIMCO has not invested with any companies on sanctioned or restricted lists and is in compliance with all U.S. laws and regulations.”
TAMUS did not reply before publication.
The full list of proxy votes, including the ones in Chinese companies, can be found here.
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