Cincinnati Post- Ohio’s universities are increasingly risking surplus money from taxpayers, tuition and other sources in hedge funds, but critics say they’re wary of the unorthodox investmentstrategies used by the unregulated private investment plans.
After a 2002 change to state law, universities have invested heavily in the funds, pushed by the lure of higher, supposedly more stable returns. Universities use money from privately funded endowments for investments, and surplus operating cash from tax receipts, student tuition payments and other university operations.
Miami University and Ohio University each has about 16 percent of their total investment portfolios in hedge funds, and this year Ohio State University doubled its investments in the complex funds to about 14 percent of its total.
Hedge funds, which consistently deliver double-digit returns, may act as a kind of insurance against downward swings in the stock market, school officials said.
