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Texas Permanent School Fund Corporation
The Texas Permanent School Fund Corporation spun out of the State Board of Education in 2021, formalizing an investment function that had supported Texas...
Texas Permanent School Fund Corporation
The Texas Permanent School Fund Corporation spun out of the State Board of Education in 2021, formalizing an investment function that had supported Texas public schools since 1854. CEO and CIO Bob Borden leads a special-purpose governmental entity whose corpus originates not from tax appropriations but from 13 million acres of state land and the oil, gas, and mineral wealth beneath it. The General Land Office manages those physical assets while the Corporation invests the financial proceeds. Borden's team allocates across real estate, infrastructure, energy, and private equity, often through large-cap fund commitments and co-investments. Recent real estate commitments include positions in Clarion Gables Multifamily Trust, BentallGreenOak's Asia IV fund, Ares US Real Estate Fund X, and Morgan Stanley's North Haven Real Estate Fund XI Global. The infrastructure portfolio features commitments to Global Infrastructure Partners and ArcLight Energy Partners, reflecting a tilt toward hard assets that align with the fund's perpetual liability structure. The fund also invests directly in the underlying resource plays that generate its revenue. The Corporation operates alongside peer sovereign funds through active membership in the Sovereign Wealth Fund Institute and participates in National Council on Teacher Retirement gatherings, positioning itself as a hybrid between an endowment and a sovereign development vehicle. May 2024: The fund continued its pattern of multi-manager real estate commitments, deepening exposure to US residential and Asian commercial property through its existing manager relationships. The fund's structure is unusual: it functions as a permanent capital vehicle for K-12 education, with annual distributions determined by a constitutional formula rather than discretionary spending rules. This architecture creates a natural long-duration bias — the fund never faces redemption pressure — and allows Borden's team to lean into illiquid commitments at a scale most state pension systems cannot match.
General information
Firm type
Sovereign Wealth Fund
Year founded
2021
Location
Region
North America
Country
United States
City
Austin
Corporate office
Austin, TX, United States
Principals
Robert 'Bob' Borden
CEO and Chief Investment Officer
Tom Maynard
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Sector focus
Frequently asked questions
Who runs investment decisions at the Texas Permanent School Fund Corporation?
Robert 'Bob' Borden serves as both CEO and Chief Investment Officer, reporting to a Board of Directors chaired by Tom Maynard. Borden came to the role after the Corporation was formally separated from the State Board of Education in 2021, bringing extensive experience from prior roles in Texas public investment management.
Where does the underlying wealth of the Texas Permanent School Fund come from?
The corpus originates from 13 million acres of state-owned land and the mineral rights attached to it. Oil and gas royalty payments, lease bonuses, and surface-use fees flow to the fund via the Texas General Land Office. This structure, created in 1854, means the fund receives continuous revenue without direct taxpayer appropriations.
How does the Texas PSF Corporation differ from the State Board of Education's historical management?
The Corporation was established in 2021 as a special-purpose governmental entity to professionalize the investment function. The Board of Education retains oversight authority, but day-to-day portfolio management now runs through a dedicated staff under CEO Bob Borden, similar to how a sovereign wealth fund separates governance from operations.
What asset classes does the Texas Permanent School Fund Corporation invest in?
The portfolio spans real estate — including US multifamily and Asian commercial property — plus infrastructure, energy, and private equity commitments. Known real estate commitments include Clarion Gables Multifamily Trust and BentallGreenOak Asia IV, while infrastructure exposure includes Global Infrastructure Partners and ArcLight Energy Partners.
Does the Texas Permanent School Fund Corporation invest directly or through external managers?
The fund allocates through a multi-manager structure, committing to institutional funds run by Ares, Morgan Stanley, BentallGreenOak, Global Infrastructure Partners, and others. The investment team also evaluates direct co-investment opportunities alongside these managers.
How are distributions from the Texas Permanent School Fund determined?
Distributions to Texas K-12 schools follow a constitutional formula based on the fund's trailing asset values, not discretionary annual decisions. This creates a predictable, formulaic spending rule that allows the investment team to manage the portfolio with a permanent-capital mindset, emphasizing long-dated illiquid assets.
How does the Texas General Land Office interact with the PSF Corporation?
The General Land Office manages the physical land and mineral assets that generate the fund's revenue, while the PSF Corporation invests the cash proceeds. The two entities operate separately but are linked by the constitutional dedication of those land revenues to the school fund.
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