The California Institute of Technology, one of the world's premier scientific research institutions, has raised its endowment's hedge fund allocation from 15% to 25%.

Sandra Ribovic Ell, the chief investment officer of Caltech's $2bn (€1.6bn) said Caltech was forced to rely on revenues from the endowment to finance its research, and that it needed hedge funds to smooth out the peaks and troughs of the equity markets.