By Muskan Arora
The $12.6B New Hampshire Retirement System has appointed Danita Johnson as the head of private markets, effective July 14.
Johnson’s hire, which followed a nationwide search conducted by Wilbanks Partners LLC, is part of an initiative launched by the pension plan in 2024, to “bring in house a larger share of the investment decision-making activities,” according to a press release.
She will report to Raynald Leveque, the pension fund’s chief investment officer. “Danita is a key part of our long-term strategic plan to bolster our investment team and expand our bench of investment talent,” said Leveque, in the release.
The pension plan’s goal is to meet or exceed the retirement system’s 6.75% assumed rate of return over the long term while managing risk, return, and liquidity in the portfolio.
Before joining the New Hampshire pension fund, Johnson served as a managing director of investments at the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System, where she was responsible for its $11B real assets portfolio. Prior to her role at Maryland SRPS, she held leadership roles in real assets at the State of Connecticut Retirement Plans, Franklin Templeton Investments, and the New York State Common Retirement Fund. She started her career on Wall Street as a securities analyst with Credit Suisse and Prudential Financial.
