LOCATION
ALLOCATOR ALLEY
“; At;the;hospital;cafeteria,;our;equity;analysts;
discovered;a;whole;meal;costs;like;$2.50!;;
They;love;it—they’re;value;conscious.”
IF YOU HIT the Lyndon Baines Johnson Presidential Library, you’ve gone too far. The
institutional money starts a mile south, and
doesn’t let up until the nightlife district.
At least five major institutions invest
upwards of $213 billion from the Texas
capitol. Over the past several years, young
people have flooded into Austin, now known
for the SXSW Festival and a thriving startup
scene. Public pension giants like the Teacher
Retirement System of Texas may not score
so many ‘cool’ points, but they’re magnets
for up-and-coming investors from across the
continent.
Three of these young asset owners—all
from out of state—guided me through the
neighborhood on a sunny Friday in May.
They all loved the city… except for one thing.
“How did you even get here?” a hip (for
pensions) 30-something asked me, incredulous. “There’s no Uber anymore!” Cue bitter
complaint. New rideshare regulations had
recently plunged Austin into the dark days
of 2011. The cabbies couldn’t have been
happier; the young asset owners, quite the
opposite. We toured by foot.
First stop: Texas Teachers. A gauntlet
of food trucks had set up in front of Austin’s
pension mothership selling Korean tacos,
BBQ, and spinach-colored juice (actually, it
probably was spinach juice). I saw, for the first
time, Austin’s unofficial uniform of short-
sleeve dress shirts and full-sleeve tattoos.
In the lobby, a tall, 30-something woman
stepped out in a wide fedora and skin-tight
denim jumpsuit. Deadpan comment: “Do
you think Britt has the same one?”
Britt Harris: CIO of Texas Teachers,
industry statesman, powerbroker. He is
mentor and role model to legions of invest-
ment greenhorns. I choose to believe that the
denim-onesie wearer is among them.
Harris’ large and famous shop does
come second place in one category: Best
office. “UTIMCO has the nicest building
for sure,” my guides agreed. “It’s in a great
area.” Voted “Best New Building” an improb-
able four years in a row, the Frost Bank Tower
houses Morgan Stanley, EY, and the univer-
sity system’s $36 billion endowment. In the
lobby’s café—Houndstooth Coffee—our
group’s hippest member fit the scene, wearing
skinny pants and a loud bird-print shirt. He’s
a Houndstooth regular, and insisted we try
“the best Japanese cold brew coffee in the city.”
More into pleated khakis than skinny
jeans? My guides shared a secret joint,
where anyone wearing actual pants is the
best-dressed around. “Lunch at the hospital
cafeteria. Our equity analysts discovered a
whole meal costs like $2.50! Of course they
love it—they’re value conscious.”
Techies have Silicon Valley. London
financiers have the Square Mile. Fleet Street
and Times Square used to be newspaper
central, but they’ve been inherited by invest-
ment bankers and panhandlers in cartoon
suits, respectively.
Austin’s asset owners have the community. Now it needs a name. A few ideas: #1)
Allocator Alley, #2) Portfolio Pit, or my
personal favorite, #3) Assets Below LBJ
Library—for short, ‘AssBeLBJ’.
—Leanna Orr
AUSTINCAPITOL
3
6
7
5
12
4
N
LONESOME
DOVE
WESTERN
BISTRO
TURF N’ SURF
PO’ BOY
UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS
INVESTMENT MANAGEMEN T
COMPANY (U TIMCO)
TEACHER RETIREMENT
SYS TEM OF TEXAS
TEXAS MUNICIPAL
RE TIREMEN T SYS TEM
CAFETERIA,
UNIVERSITY MEDICAL
CENTER BRACKENRIDGE
EMPLOYEES RETIREMENT
SYS TEM OF TEXAS
(TEXAS ERS)
