In order to enhance the process by which the various Funds' investments are governed and managed, the Board of Regents of The University of Texas System on March 1, 1996 contracted with The University of Texas/Texas A&M Investment Management Company ("UTIMCO") to invest funds under its fiduciary control. UTIMCO is a 501(c)(3) corporation modeled after investment management companies organized by Harvard, Princeton, Stanford, and Duke Universities to invest their respective assets. It is the first investment corporation formed by a public university system and oversees investments in the Permanent University Fund, the Permanent Health Fund, the Long Term Fund, and Intermediate Term Fund, and other assets. UTIMCO is governed by a nine-member Board of Directors, consisting of at least three members of the UT System Board, four independent directors with substantial background and expertise in investments appointed by the UT System Board, and two members appointed by the Texas A&M System Board, one of whom must have a substantial background and expertise in investments. UTIMCO's governance structure is designed both to preserve ultimate regental control of investments for fiduciary purposes and to increase the level of expertise in the governance of investments. Day-to-day management of funds is delegated to UTIMCO's employees, who provide a full range of investment management services exclusively to the UT System Board.