Click here for printer friendly page

University of California ejected from Sequoia funds over disclosure row

The University of California, which manages $34bn of investments, has been ejected from private equity funds run by Sequoia Capital.

Sequoia's decision will end a relationship that has earned the University of California nearly $400m. The move is perhaps the most abrupt reaction yet to the growing pressure on the private equity industry to let its results be made available to a wider audience than just investors themselves, according to the Financial Times.

‘It is not in the interests of Sequoia Capital's other clients that we be hounded, badgered and stalked by entities wishing either to profit from or publicise our private and confidential information,' Mike Moritz, a Sequoia partner wrote to the University of California.

The University of California appealed against a court decision that compelled it to disclose the financial performance results of its private equity portfolio earlier this month. Its appeal was made on the grounds that it feared it would be shut out of future fundraisings by the leading private equity firms.

Having already had an investment invitation rescinded by Three Arch Partners, it would appear that the University of California's worst fears have now been realised. Sequoia Capital has already severed its links with the University of Michigan for the same reasons.

Copyright © 2003 AltAssets