Networking Committee Members – Austin

Jena Michels 

The University of Texas Investment Management Company – Associate

Chairman – Austin

Jena Michels is an Associate on UTIMCO’s $10 billion Marketable Alternative Investments team. Since joining in 2013, Jena has focused on sourcing, due diligence and monitoring of existing long/short equity, distressed credit, event, multi-strategy and global macro hedge fund strategies. Prior to joining UTIMCO, Jena held similar positions at Ascension Health, a large non-profit hospital system based in St. Louis, Missouri and The University of Arizona Investment Office. She holds a B.S. in Business Administration and an M.S. in Finance from The University of Arizona.

Kendall C. Courtney

Teacher Retirement System of Texas
Investment Management Division

Kendall heads up the Cash & Security Operations Team for the Investments Division of The Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Kendall is responsible for the following teams: Trade Settlement, Transition Planning, Cash Movements/Forecasts & Reconciliation, Fee Management, Proxy Policy Management, Compliance Oversight, Tax and Market Oversight, External Public Market Oversight, Operational Risk Management and working directly with our custodian, State Street Bank.

Prior to joining TRS, Kendall was the CFO and COO at Revolution Alternative Energy Investments, LP, where she was responsible for the daily operations of the business, including in-house oversight of finance, accounting, legal/compliance and technology-related matters. Prior to Revolution Kendall was the Director for the Private Client Group at Austin Capital Management where she developed and maintained their marketing and client relations. Prior to Austin Capital she was head of the Alternative Investment Department at NFP Securities, Inc. Kendall has over 15 years in the financial arena.

Kendall earned an MBA in Business Management from St. Edward’s University and a BA in Mathematics from the University of Texas. She has held the NASD Series 7, 24, 63 and 65 securities licenses.

Vice President and Assistant General Counsel
Amherst Holdings LLC 

Allyson Hale serves as Vice President and Assistant General Counsel for Amherst Holdings, LLC, a financial services holding company that provides advice and services to institutional investors, issuers, and financial companies. Hale’s focus is on advising the Single Family Equity platform at Amherst Holdings. Prior to joining Amherst Holdings, she served as the U.S. in-house counselor to the Australian Stock Exchange; as a cross-cultural consultant for multinational executives relocating from Australia to the United States; and as an attorney for the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. Hale holds a J.D. from the University of Texas School of Law and a B.A. from The Johns Hopkins University.