Directors of the University of Texas Investment Management Company have voted to repeal an ethics rule that bars them from investing in the same funds as the management company, the Austin American-Statesman reported this morning.

The regents of the University of Texas system had approved the rule in 2000 amid allegations of cronyism and complaints about inadequate disclosure of the investment company’s private-equity portfolio. The company, known as Utimco, manages $25-billion in endowment funds for the University of Texas and Texas A&M University systems.

The directors told the newspaper that the rule had kept them from recommending promising investment opportunities to Utimco because they already had their own money invested in them.

A proposed rule change would bar the directors from voting on funds in which they have personal investments and from having more than 5 percent of their income come from that investment.

To take effect, the change would need to be approved by the regents, who are scheduled to consider it next month. —Kathryn Masterson