2025 Elite Alts Allocators, Part 1

Panayiotis Lambropoulos, CFA, CAIA, FRM is a portfolio manager at the Employees Retirement System of Texas (Texas ERS), a $41 billion public pension plan based in Austin. He plays a key role in helping manage the Trust’s hedge fund allocation, with responsibilities that include strategic asset allocation, manager selection, and ongoing portfolio oversight.

Panayiotis primarily focuses on the Absolute Return Portfolio and opportunistic investments in emerging managers. He has spearheaded innovative initiatives to identify and support emerging hedge fund talent and is an advocate for industry innovation and strategic advancement.

Beyond his work at Texas ERS, Panayiotis is actively involved in the broader investment community. He serves on the CAIA Asset Allocators Advisory Committee, is the CAIA Austin Chapter Head, sits on the CFA Society of Austin Board, and serves as an Investor Board Member at AIF Global, an independent economic think tank. He also mentors interns and participates in Texas ERS’s internal mentorship program, helping to cultivate the next generation of hedge fund professionals.

Prior to joining Texas ERS, Panayiotis held investment and client service roles at global firms including Grosvenor Capital Management and MCP Alternative Asset Management, deepening his expertise in portfolio construction and institutional investment strategy.

He earned a B.S. in Business Administration from Boston College, with concentrations in Finance and Marketing, and an M.B.A. from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management. He holds the CFA Charter and the CAIA and FRM designations.

James Del Gaudio is the managing director and head of private markets at the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania’s Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS). He oversees PSERS’ entire private markets allocation, for which a 30% target — or an estimated $78B — of the total portfolio’s assets was earmarked, as of Sept. 30, 2024. Since joining PSERS in 2015, he has managed its private credit and private equity/special situations portfolios, earning a promotion to his current leadership role in early 2024.

Before joining PSERS, Del Gaudio served as a senior investment officer at the Office of the New York City Comptroller’s Bureau of Asset Management, where he gained valuable experience in public pension fund management. He also worked in wealth management, leveraging his broad financial background to support institutional investors.

An accomplished musician, Del Gaudio earned a bachelor’s degree in music from the Manhattan School of Music in 2004, specializing in the bassoon. He attributes his creative thinking and strategic problem-solving abilities to his performing arts background, which he believes has enriched his investment career. Additionally, Del Gaudio earned a Master of Business Administration from the City University of New York’s Baruch College — Zicklin School of Business in 2015, equipping him with a robust foundation in business and finance.

Michael Mueller serves as the investment officer for the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund’s (OPERF) Opportunity Portfolio, a position he has held since 2019. He directs the construction, manager selection, due diligence, and monitoring of the portfolio. Created in 2005, the portfolio was designed to enable staff to consider investments that are outside the six formally adopted strategic asset classes or that are more tactical in nature. The portfolio incubated OPERF’s real assets portfolio, which is now a strategic asset class and currently houses the fund’s private credit exposure. The Portfolio is approximately $3.0 billion and cannot exceed five percent of the $96 billion OPERF. Over the most recent 5-year period, the Portfolio returned 13.5 percent, annually, which was only exceeded by OPERF’s public equity portfolio.

His career at the Oregon State Treasury spans nearly 30 years, including 16 as the agency’s deputy chief investment officer from 1999-2015, a position that no longer exists. During his tenure as deputy CIO, he served two stints as interim CIO. Mueller began his career at the Treasury, serving as the agency’s audit and risk manager for five years. In that position, his responsibilities included monitoring Treasury compliance with internal policies and Oregon State law and managing the department’s overall risk exposure. Prior to his employment at Oregon State Treasury, Mueller worked for five years at KPMG in its San Francisco and Portland, Ore. offices as a certified public accountant, where he engaged in audits of public and private companies. He is a graduate of Stanford University where he earned degrees in quantitative economics and history.

Eric Lang serves as senior managing director of private markets at the Teacher Retirement System of Texas (TRS), where he leads the investment strategy and portfolio construction for approximately one-third of the trust’s portfolio. His remit spans a 33% allocation to private markets that is split between real estate (15%), private equity (12%), and energy, natural resources, and infrastructure (6%) — totaling more than $100B in exposure. He oversees a team of more than 60 investment professionals and plays an active role as co-chair of the TRS’ Investment Management Division (IMD) committee and a member of its investment committee.

Lang previously served as managing director of real assets at TRS. Prior to joining the pension fund, he was a managing director at Kennedy Wilson, a real estate investment company. He also held earlier roles at American General Corp. (now AIG) and Landauer Real Estate Counselors.

He currently sits on the board of the Pension Real Estate Association (PREA) Foundation and is a former chairman of PREA’s board of directors and plan sponsor committee. He also served on the board and compensation committee of Home Partners of America.

Lang holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Texas at Austin and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Houston.

Maurice Gordon serves as senior managing director and head of private equity at Guardian Life Insurance Co. With over 25 years of experience in global private equity investing, Gordon has generated strong returns across more than $10B in assets, spanning buyouts, venture capital, opportunistic credit, and real assets. He is responsible for leading Guardian’s private equity program, overseeing fund investments, secondaries, and co-investments.

Gordon joined Guardian in 2010, bringing with him a deep track record in portfolio construction and direct investing. Over the course of his career, he has originated and led 29 direct and co-investment transactions and managed institutional portfolios exceeding $4.5B. He has served on 23 advisory boards and successfully implemented strategies across primary fund investing, secondaries, and co-investments. Prior to Guardian, he was managing director of the Hartford Insurance Co.'s private equity group, where he managed an $800M portfolio. He also served as managing general partner of CIGNA Investment Corp.’s mezzanine limited partnerships.

Gordon is a former board member of the Institutional Limited Partners Association and a frequent speaker at private equity and alternative investment conferences. He earned both his Bachelor of Arts and Master of Science degrees in economics from the University of Illinois and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Jim Mattingly serves as director of real assets at the Indiana Public Retirement System (INPRS), a $40 billion pension plan serving teachers and public employees across the state. Since joining INPRS in 2018, Mattingly has overseen investment strategy and portfolio construction for the plan’s real assets portfolio, which includes allocations to real estate, infrastructure, private natural resources, and commodities. Under his leadership, INPRS expanded its real assets allocation from 7% to 10% and has built a diversified portfolio across sectors such as digital infrastructure, neighborhood retail, and real estate private credit.

Mattingly brings extensive experience in finance and investing, having previously held roles at Elevance Health (formerly Anthem Insurance) and Eli Lilly and Company. He has also taught derivatives and risk management at Butler University’s Lacy School of Business.

He earned an MBA in finance and economics from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and a B.S. in accounting and computer information systems from the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University.

Anna Langs serves as managing director of asset allocation, risk management and innovative solutions at the San Francisco Employees' Retirement System (SFERS), where she leads efforts at the intersection of portfolio construction, investment innovation, and enterprise risk. She brings over two decades of experience in global institutional investing and has held senior risk leadership roles at some of the world’s largest asset managers and sovereign funds.

Prior to joining SFERS, Langs served as head of investment risk at the Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, where she designed and implemented the investment risk framework. She was previously chief risk officer at AXA Investment Managers, Fortress Investment Group, and First Quadrant. Earlier in her career, she held quantitative and analytics-focused roles at Western Asset Management, Merrill Lynch’s Intelligent Technologies Group, and D. E. Shaw.

Langs holds three degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology: a master of engineering in electrical engineering and computer science, and bachelor’s degrees in both mathematics and computer science and engineering. She also completed the INSEAD executive management program and holds both the CFA and FRM designations.

George Emerson serves as senior investment officer at the Seattle City Employees' Retirement System (SCERS), where he leads the pension fund’s investments in fixed income and infrastructure. A member of the SCERS investment team since 2014, Emerson helps shape allocation strategy across diversifying assets and has contributed to building out the system’s exposure to hedge funds and alternative risk premia strategies.

Emerson began his career with the City of Seattle in 2006 as an economist, responsible for regional economic forecasting, tax revenue modeling, and advising on municipal cash management and pension fund investments. He also served as assistant portfolio manager for the City’s operating investment fund, overseeing more than $2 billion in assets. His work included budget planning for municipal debt issuance and contributing to credit rating agency engagements.

He holds deep expertise in public finance, risk management, and econometric analysis, with a background in SAS, EViews, and other tools for investment and revenue performance reporting.

Mike Fang is senior portfolio manager at the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System (MSRPS), where he oversees more than $18 billion across public and private credit, derivatives, and commodities. He co-leads the system’s thematic investment team and manages portfolio construction across core fixed income, opportunistic credit, private credit, and portable alpha overlays. His mandate also includes co-investments, impact investing, and macro strategy.

Fang joined MSRPS in 2019 after serving as senior fund manager at MissionSquare Retirement, where he led the development and launch of the firm’s first defined contribution alternative assets fund and managed over $10 billion in target-date and multi-asset portfolios. His earlier experience includes investment strategist roles at T. Rowe Price and structured finance consulting at Kaufman Hall.

He is also an advisor to several startups in the fintech and ESG sectors and has been actively involved in academic initiatives through Yale University, where he earned his MBA. Fang also holds an M.S. in financial mathematics from the University of Chicago and brings over 15 years of experience in manager due diligence, macro investing, and portfolio innovation across asset classes.

Ahmad Khan is senior investment officer and head of private equity at the Missouri State Employees’ Retirement System (MOSERS), where he oversees the $10 billion pension’s global private equity program, including buyouts, venture capital, secondaries, and co-investments. He also co-manages the system’s private real assets portfolio. His responsibilities span manager sourcing, due diligence, and investment analysis across primaries and direct opportunities.

Prior to joining MOSERS, Khan was an associate at Acalyx Advisors, a private capital advisory firm focused on fundraising and investor relations for alternative asset managers. He began his investment career at SSM Health, where he supported the management of $7 billion in endowment, foundation, and pension assets across both public and private markets.

Khan holds a bachelor of science in economics from the Richard A. Chaifetz School of Business at Saint Louis University.