Rakesh Dahiya became SMU’s new university treasurer and chief investment officer on Sept. 12.

Since 2011, Dahiya worked at the University of Florida Investment Management Corp. He has also previously worked for Washington University in St. Louis.

“Rakesh Dahiya’s experience in higher education investment management, particularly with sophisticated institutional portfolios much like SMU’s, as well as his achievements in corporate finance, makes him an excellent fit as SMU’s chief investment officer,” President R. Gerald Turner said.

Turner also cites Dahiya’s capability of monitoring fast-changing markets as additional credentials.

In his new position, Dahiya will oversee SMU’s $1.5 billion endowment, one of the largest private college endowments in Texas, as well as mineral interests and planned giving assets.

According to a Bloomberg tracker, SMU’s portfolio gained 8.7 percent in yield over the past decade, the third best among 15 private southern colleges with more than $900 million in assets.

SMU issued a statement that ventured capital investments were a “significant contributor to performance” in the 2015 fiscal year.

As treasurer and CIO, Dahiya will work with university leadership, namely the President’s executive council and the board of trustees, on endowment spending, strategy and performance matters. Dahiya will also oversee investment research and analysis, implementation, risk management, accounting, performance measurement, reporting associated with the investment process, and the management of real estate and mineral interests, according to an SMU statement.

SMU’s previous treasurer and CIO Michael Condon resigned in late March after eight years with the university.

At the time, Condon had no known predecessor. Christine Regis has served as interim CIO since Condon’s departure.

Condon now works as senior vice president at Cincinnati-based Fund Evaluation Group investment advisors.