2024 Elite 100 CIOs Part 1

Retired from CalSTRS in July, 2024. Chris Ailman is the Chief Investment Officer of the $330 billion California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS), with a team of 250 investment professionals.

Having joined the system in 2000, Ailman is one of the longest serving public pension CIOs in the country.

Ailman has previously served on numerous Boards and Advisory Boards and has over 38 years of institutional investment experience as public fund CIO. He has been named CIO of the year by several publications and won two lifetime achievement awards. Ailman is a regular guest on the TV and radio, CNBC, Bloomberg, and Nightly Business Report.

Shoaib Khan is the Chief Investment officer and Director for the $95 billion New Jersey Division of Investment. The Division of Investment also manages the State of New Jersey’s Cash Management Fund with asset of approximately $37 billion as of February 29, 2024.

Khan joined the investment division in January 2021 as Deputy Director and Deputy CIO and took over as Director and CIO in June 2022.

Before joining the New Jersey Division of Investment, Khan was a Senior Portfolio Manager at the Florida State Board of Administration. He has also previously served in the roles of Global Head of Portfolio Management at Union Bancaire Privee (UBP), a Switzerland-based private bank and Strategy Head at J.P. Morgan Alternative Asset Management in New York.

Jonathan Grabel has been Chief Investment Officer of the Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association (LACERA) since 2017, where he oversees the investment strategy for the system’s nearly $80 billion fund. Prior to joining LACERA, he served as the CIO of New Mexico PERA from 2014 to 2017, where he directed investment operations and strategic asset allocation. Earlier in his career, Jonathan was the CIO for Montgomery County Public Schools from 2011 to 2014.

Andrew Palmer, CFA, is the Chief Investment Officer for the $66 billion Maryland State Retirement and Pension System, serving over 420,000 members and retirees for nearly a decade. He oversees the System’s Investment Division, focusing on managing investment risk to reduce volatility and ensure liquidity, safeguarding pension obligations.

Previously, Andrew served as Deputy CIO for the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System for nine years. He advocates for fair wages, mission-driven professionals, and a culture of success, and has led efforts to improve diversity within the investment management industry.

Legislation passed by the Maryland General Assembly in 2022 has positioned Andrew and his team as a national model in addressing climate risk in investments. This includes climate stress testing and investments in carbon credits and energy transition infrastructure. Under Andrew’s leadership, the team has consistently outperformed the fund’s policy benchmarks, reducing return volatility and enabling higher compound growth. He was awarded the Markets Group Strategy Award in 2024.

Craig Husting is the Chief Investment Officer of the $59 billion Public School and Education Employee Retirement System of Missouri.

Since joining the retirement systems in January 1999, Husting has been responsible for strategically diversifying the asset allocation for the Systems including the development of real estate, private equity, private credit and hedge fund portfolios.

Before this role, Husting was the Director of Investments and Deposit Programs for the $3.5 billion Missouri State Treasurer’s Office.

He has also worked in county government as the Deputy Treasurer for the Johnson County, KS government.

Casey Wolf is the Chief Investment Officer of the $46 billion Texas County & District Retirement System (TCDRS).

After being appointed to the role six years ago, Wolf increased TCDRS’ exposure to private equity from a target of 12% to 25% recognizing the merits of the asset class. The system is extremely active in private equity and venture capital with a target of 25% of plan assets ($12.3 billion in NAV). TCDRS is also active in private real estate (6% target, $2.7 billion NAV) and private credit (16% target, $6.5 billion NAV).

At the end of 2023, the system was given the first rank in the 3-year period by Bank of New York Mellon’s $1 Billion + Public Plan Universe and top decile in the five-year ranking.

Geoffrey Berg is the Chief Investment Officer of the South Carolina Retirement Systems, a position he has held since May 2016. Initially joining as a Director and later serving as Acting Chief Investment Officer, he was promoted to his current role, where he oversees the investment strategy and management of the system's extensive $42 billion portfolio, ensuring long-term financial stability and growth. Before joining the South Carolina Retirement Systems, Geoffrey worked in mergers and acquisitions at HNI Corporation from 2005 to 2007.

Yup S.Kim is the Chief Investment Officer for the $39 billion Texas Municipal Retirement System (TMRS) and chairs its staff investment committee.

In his prior role, he served as the head of private equity investments at $490 million CalPERS where he led the private equity program across all functions including strategy, team management, and investment activities across primary, secondary, and co-investment opportunities globally.

Before that, Kim worked as a senior portfolio manager at $80 billion Alaska Permanent Fund Corporation where he oversaw its private investment activities. The private equity and special opportunities portfolio generated 25% net of fee returns over a decade. He has also held positions at DB Private Equity, where he served on the Investment Committee, Performance Equity, and Silver Point Capital. Kim began his career at Citigroup in New York.

Ellen Hung is the state investment officer for the $42 billion Nebraska Investment Council.

Previously, Hung served as Deputy Chief Investment Officer of the State Universities Retirement System in Illinois and the Assistant Chief Executive Officer for the Santa Barbara County Employee’s Retirement System.

Jill Schurtz is the Chief Investment Officer of the $140 billion Minnesota State Board of Investment. Prior to this role, she served as the Executive Director and CIO for St. Paul Teachers' Retirement Fund Association. In the role, she oversaw the investment program and benefits administration for the system.

She has also worked as CEO of Robeco‐Sage, a NY based asset management firm; investment banking at US Bancorp Piper Jaffray; the technical research group at Knight Equity Markets; and practicing law at Skadden, Arps.

She currently serves on the West Point Investment Committee; the Board and Investment Committee of the M.A. Mortenson Company; the National Institute of Retirement Security; and the Workers' Compensation Reinsurance Association. In the past, her Board and Committee service includes the Alerus Financial Corporation; the Okabena Investment Advisory Committee; Children’s Minnesota; the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy; the MacPhail Center for Music; and the Breck School Board of Trustees, where she served as Board President.

Mark Steed is the Chief Investment Officer for the $19 billion Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System.

In this role, Steed has introduced a new framework for investment decision-making, prioritizing accountability and objectivity, which led to an outperformance of approximately $400 million excess returns over a three-year period.

He is also driving the ongoing expansion of predictive analytics and artificial intelligence (AI) projects to enhance process efficiency and support data-driven decision-making.

Steed has made notable changes as a CIO including leading the development of a comprehensive Investment Book of Record, encompassing front, middle, and back-office functions. This led him to achieve the highest asset growth for pension plans in the country for Fiscal Year 2023 and the second highest asset growth for Fiscal Year 2022. He also led complete portfolio turnaround and re-established legitimacy for overall investment program.

Over the last 15 years Mark has managed Private Equity, Venture Capital, Absolute Return, Opportunistic Credit, Public Equity, Global Trading Strategies and Real Estate portfolios.

Mark also served a four-year stint as a forecaster for the distinguished Good Judgment Project, led by Dr. Phil Tetlock at UPenn, and published the first guest-post on the popular decision science blog *Farnam Street*.

Carlos Rangel is the Chief Investment Officer for the W.K. Kellogg Foundation.

In this role, he leads the investment office and supports the foundation’s efforts to promote thriving children, working families, and equitable communities. During his more than a decade at the foundation, he has held different roles within the investment office.

In addition to his investment duties, Rangel has recently been a co-executive sponsor for the Expanding Equity work at the Kellogg Foundation in partnership with the CEO’s office and the chief strategist and impact officer.

Rangel is on the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation board of trustees, the U.S. Treasury Department’s Advisory Committee on Racial Equity (TACRE), the Managed Funds Association (MFA) Board of Directors, and Milken Institute’s Inclusive Capitalism Council.

Kimberly Sargent is the Chief Investment Officer at the $8 billion David & Lucile Packard Foundation and manages a team of 15 investment officials.

Prior to joining the Foundation in 2008, Sargent was an Associate at McKinsey & Company, where she served financial institutions on various projects. Previously she was a Senior Analyst at the Yale Endowment, where she covered international equities and served as research assistant to then CIO David Swensen for his second book, Unconventional Success.

She serves in advisory capacities with The Baupost Group, Fremont Group, Lick-Wilmerding High School, Castilleja School, and SEO (Sponsors for Educational Opportunity).

Harshal Chaudhari is the Chief Investment Officer and president at GE Investment Management. He oversees pension and savings assets for GE Aerospace and GE’s spun off businesses.

Prior to joining GE, Chaudhari served as VP of Finance at IBM where he held roles including Chief Investment Officer for IBM Retirement Funds, Chief Financial Officer for IBM’s Analytics Solutions and Industry Cloud Solutions divisions as well as strategy and trading roles in IBM’s Treasury department.

Ernie Caballero is the Chief Investment Officer for the $45 billion United Parcel Service of America (UPS) Pension Plan and holds fiduciary responsibility for all aspects of the investment portfolios for UPS' Single Employer Defined Benefit Plans. In this role, Caballero is involved in transitioning the asset pools from a growth oriented to a liability aware investment approach for both closed & frozen plans as well as open & accruing plans. He also continued expanding his investment team to accommodate the complexities of actively managing a dual mandate portfolio that was 50% risk seeking, 50% fixed income, and 30% synthetic fixed income.

Prior to this he was domiciled in Europe for 13 years, between Brussels and London, overseeing various aspects of the UPS businesses. While in Belgium, he held the roles of CFO for UPS Europe and Emerging Markets Strategy Coordinator for Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa. While living in London, he was responsible for Treasury Operations, Risk Management, and Mergers Acquisitions within the Europe, Middle East and Africa Asia Pacific Regions. He has held many other Audit, Finance, Treasury, and Trading leadership positions throughout his career.

Caballero is a current board member of CIEBA and Chair of the CIEBA Defined Benefit Committee. He serves on the board the ASFIP Foundation, whose focus is to advocate for & provide support for programs concentrating on financial literacy in the Atlanta area.

Jonathan Glidden is the Chief Investment Officer at Delta Air Lines, a position he has held since 2011.  In his tenure, Glidden has been instrumental in orchestrating one of the largest corporate pension turnarounds in history, transforming the program into a model of success and stability.

Reporting directly to the company president, CEO, CFO, board of directors, and treasurer, Glidden has leveraged his expertise to align leadership with innovative alternative investment strategies. These include private market investments, derivatives, and portable alpha growth through market-neutral hedge funds. Glidden has also created critical liquidity and cash management practices at Delta to proactively manage risk.

Under Glidden’s leadership, Delta’s employee pension plan catapulted from 38% funded to 101% funded in less than a decade. His strategic approach consistently exceeded investment benchmarks, positioning Delta among the top 5% of plan sponsors in the U.S. while incurring less risk than 70% of its peer group.

Before joining Delta Air Lines, Glidden worked at Wilmington Trust from 2007 to 2011, where he managed large-scale investment portfolios.

Jonathan Glidden’s tenure at Delta Air Lines has been marked by remarkable achievements and a forward-thinking approach to pension fund management. His leadership continues to drive Delta’s investment strategy, ensuring long-term financial health and stability for the company’s employee pension program.

Stan Rupnik is the Chief Investment Officer and Executive Director of the $70.5 billion Teachers’ Retirement System of the State of Illinois (TRS) and has been in the role for over two decades.

Rupnik oversees all operating functions in the investment department and is responsible for the System’s investment portfolio – Global Income, Public Equity, Private Equity, Real Assets and Diversifying Strategies.

During Rupnik’s tenure, TRS restructured and institutionalized the investment portfolio, including evolving the System’s alternative investment program; aligned the portfolio’s asset allocation structure to a risk-focused model, improving the portfolio’s risk and return profile; developed a direct private equity co-investment program; established and grew the Emerging Manager Program (EMP), diversifying the investment program and delivering on the System’s commitment to increasing diversity, equity and inclusion efforts; and established and implemented the System’s first-ever defined contribution plan.

In addition, the CIO reorganized System leadership, building a framework for talent development; established an organizational Diversity, Equity and Inclusion initiative that promotes an inclusive culture; developed and implemented procurement and contract oversight, restructured internal governance practices to provide greater transparency.

Rich Hall is the Chief Investment Officer at UTIMCO (The University of Texas/Texas A&M Investment Management Company), where, since 2018, he has managed the investment strategy for the organization's $72 billion portfolio. Prior to this role, he was the Managing Director of Public Equity at Harvard Management Company from 2014 to 2018, overseeing public equity investments. From 2008 to 2014, Rich served as a Senior Managing Director at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas, where he managed the TRS’ $18.2 billion portfolio of private equity commitments.

Edwin Cass is the Chief Investment Officer at the CPP Investment Board, one of the world's largest private equity investors. Under his leadership, the CPP pursues a value-added strategy aimed at achieving long-term outperformance. Edwin has been with the CPP since March 2008, initially serving as Vice President.

Anastasia Titarchuk is the Chief Investment Officer for the $259 billion New York State’s Common Retirement Fund. In this role, she works with Thomas P. DiNapoli, the State Comptroller.

Titarchuk is responsible for developing and implementing investment strategies to ensure that the Fund remains one of the best-funded and best-managed public pension plans in the country. The fund holds assets in trust for over one million employees and retirees from the state and local authorities.

In addition, Titarchuk is a member of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York’s Investor Advisory Committee on Financial Markets, and the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee (TBAC).

Eduard van Gelderen is the Chief Investment Officer at PSP Investments, a role he has held since 2018. Prior to this, he was the Senior Managing Director at the University of California's Office of the Chief Investment Officer from 2017 to 2018. From 2014 to 2017, Eduard served as the CEO and CIO of APG Asset Management, where he managed substantial pension assets.

Charles Nielsen is the Chief Investment Officer of the Public Employees' Retirement System of Mississippi (PERS). He oversees the investment department's activities, ensuring the responsible management of the system's assets.

Reporting to the executive director, Charles develops and implements investment programs and procedures in compliance with state and federal regulations. His leadership plays a vital role in maintaining the financial stability and growth of the retirement system's portfolio.

Chris Hanak is the Chief Investment Officer at the Washington State Investment Board, a position he has held since February 2022. He began his tenure at the Board as an Assistant Senior Investment Officer, focusing on Risk Management and Asset Allocation. Before this role, he served as the Acting CIO for the Group Health Foundation. His experience also includes working as an investment professional at Cascade Asset Management, formerly known as BMGI, where he collaborated with the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

Amy Falls serves as the Chief Investment Officer for Northwestern University's $14.2 billion endowment, which provides significant support for the University's operations. With over three decades of investment management experience, Amy is recognized as one of the foremost thought leaders in the endowment space, known for her strong performance record.

Amy's extensive board experience includes serving as a board member for the Harvard Management Company and the Ford Foundation, overseeing endowments exceeding $13 billion. She is the Chairman of the Board of Trustees at Phillips Academy Andover, her alma mater, where she previously served as CIO. Additionally, she is on the board overseeing investments for the Peter G. Peterson Foundation.

Together with her husband, Hartley Rogers, Amy established the Amy Falls and Hartley Rogers Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides grants to organizations dedicated to educational equity and equality.

Alison Romano is the Chief Investment Officer and Chief Executive Officer at the $36.1 billion San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System (SFERS).

In this role, Romano is responsible for all investments and operations activities which entail prudent oversight of pension trust assets, administering mandated benefits programs, and ensuring the promised benefits to the active and retired members of the City and County of San Francisco.

Prior to SFERS, Romano was Deputy Chief Investment Officer at the $225 billion Florida State Board of Administration (SBA). In this role, she provided strategic leadership and oversight of the SBA’s internal and external investment portfolios, collaborated with senior staff to identify and manage risk, and supported the development and implementation of investment policies and the strategic plan.

Before her role as Deputy CIO, Ms. Romano was Senior Investment Officer, Global Equity, responsible for directing the investment of over $85 billion in active and passive strategies across all regions of the globe and led the asset class team in the management of internal funds and the selection of external equity and currency strategies. Before that, she was a Senior Portfolio Manager, providing broad oversight of active managers and identifying new investment strategies within Global Equity.

Before joining the SBA, Ms. Romano held various positions at Goldman, Sachs & Co., last as Vice President in Investment Banking where she advised healthcare companies on mergers and acquisitions, financings, and strategic alternatives.