2026 Elite Institutional CIOs, Part 5

Bryan Lewis is chief investment officer of the United States Steel Corp., where he oversees $4B in retirement and benefits assets on behalf of the company’s employees and retirees. He joined U.S. Steel in 2019 and is responsible for the governance, portfolio management, and investment strategy across both defined-benefit and defined-contribution pension plans.

Before joining U.S. Steel, Lewis served as CIO of the Pennsylvania State Employees’ Retirement System, where he managed a $40B pension portfolio. Prior to that, he was the executive director of the more than $25B State Universities Retirement System of Illinois. Currently, he also serves on the boards of Essential Utilities Inc., the Financial Accounting Foundation, and the Steelworkers Pension Trust.

Erik Lundberg serves as chief investment officer at the University of Michigan, where he oversees the university’s $19B long-term investment portfolio. As the institution’s first CIO, he has built a top-tier investment office recognized for strong performance and disciplined portfolio construction. Under his leadership, the endowment has grown its assets under management from $2.5B and advanced from the 17th-largest endowment to among the nation’s top 10, delivering sustained top-quartile returns.

Lundberg leads a team of 20 investment professionals and continues to broaden the university’s global investment platform, including one of the most diversified rosters of external managers among higher-education endowments. He also guides the university’s commitment to sustainability, with the portfolio on track to reach net-zero emissions by 2030. Lundberg holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Ohio State University.

Farouki Majeed serves as chief investment officer of the School Employees Retirement System of Ohio (SERS), where he has led the investment program since 2012. Under his leadership, the fund has delivered performance exceeding both its benchmark and actuarial interest rate while significantly strengthening the plan’s financial footing.

Before joining SERS, Majeed held senior leadership roles at several prominent public funds, including serving as senior investment officer for asset allocation and risk management at CalPERS and as the inaugural CIO of the Abu Dhabi Retirement Pensions and Benefits Fund. His earlier roles included serving as deputy director of investments at Ohio PERS and as CIO of the Orange County Employees Retirement System. He began his investment career in 1991 with the Minneapolis Employees Retirement Fund.

Majeed holds a Master of Business Administration degree in finance and international business from Rutgers University–Newark.

Jason Malinowski serves as chief investment officer of the Seattle City Employees’ Retirement System (SCERS), where he has led the $4.8B plan since 2014. During his tenure, he has advanced a liability-aware investment framework that enhances alignment between the portfolio and SCERS’ long-term obligations to beneficiaries. Before joining the City of Seattle, Malinowski spent more than a decade at BlackRock and its predecessor firm Quellos Group, including serving as managing director and head of risk and quantitative analysis for alternative investments.

In 2026, Malinowski and the SCERS investment team will continue refining the liability-aware investing framework to further strengthen insights into plan-level risk and return.

Malinowski holds a bachelor’s degree in economics and mathematics from New York University and a master’s degree in policy studies from the University of Washington Bothell.

Ana Marshall is chief investment officer of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, where she oversees the foundation’s $13B endowment. She joined Hewlett in 2004 and brings more than 35 years of experience in asset allocation, investment strategy, and risk management. Marshall is recognized for building a high-performing investment program that supports the foundation’s long-term philanthropic commitments and mission.

Before Hewlett, Marshall spent 10 years at RCM Capital Management as a senior portfolio manager and partner, co-managing a global equity portfolio and leading the firm’s emerging markets strategy. Earlier in her career, she held investment roles at Bank of America and Caywood-Scholl Capital Management. She also serves on boards and committees, including as a board trustee of the Children’s Investment Fund Foundation and on the Skoll Foundation’s investment committee. She is also a faculty lecturer at the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

Marshall earned her degree in economics from the University of San Diego and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

Sam Masoudi is chief investment officer of the Wyoming Retirement System (WRS), where he oversees approximately $12.8B in pension assets for public employees across the state. Appointed CIO in 2013, he has led the continued evolution of the WRS’ investment program with a focus on disciplined risk management, diversified positioning across public and private markets, and strong stewardship on behalf of beneficiaries.

Masoudi brings more than three decades of investment experience. Before joining WRS, he served as a managing director for Tulane University’s endowment, where he sourced and monitored both marketable and private investment strategies. Earlier in his career, he co-founded and managed a long/short equity hedge fund, Silver Peak Capital Management, held investment roles at Veronis Suhler Stevenson, and worked in real estate investment banking at PaineWebber and Kidder Peabody. He also contributes as an investment committee member for the Wyoming State Treasury.

For 2026, Masoudi and the WRS investment team are focused on further diversifying away from U.S. assets, particularly within public equities, to strengthen the portfolio’s global risk-return balance.

Masoudi holds a Bachelor of Science degree in finance and investments from Babson College and is both a Chartered Financial Analyst and a Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst.

Amy McGarrity serves as chief investment officer for the roughly $70B Colorado Public Employees’ Retirement Association (Colorado PERA), where she oversees investment strategy, portfolio construction, risk management, and long-term financial sustainability on behalf of more than 600,000 current and future retirees across the state. She leads the organization’s investment team across public and private markets, manages key external partnerships, and advises the Board of Trustees on investment policy and strategic planning.

McGarrity joined Colorado PERA in 2010, serving as senior investment officer and later deputy CIO before being appointed CIO in 2017. She previously held investment and consulting roles with William Blair, Buck Consultants, Prima Capital Holding Inc., William M. Mercer Investment Consulting, and Caxton Corp.

For 2026, McGarrity and the Colorado PERA investment team are focused on systems modernization such as upgrading technology, data infrastructure, and operational processes to enhance portfolio oversight and support continued delivery of strong, risk-aware outcomes for members.

McGarrity is co-chair of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board Investor Advisory Group, serves on the Healthy Markets Association board, and is an active volunteer leader, including board service with the Girl Scouts of Colorado. She is a Chartered Financial Analyst and serves on the CFA Institute’s Diversity, Equity & Inclusion Steering Committee. She holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from the University of Wyoming and a Master of Business Administration degree from Rider University.

Dipesh Mehta serves as executive director and chief investment officer of the Illinois State Board of Investment (ISBI), where he oversees more than $29B in assets across defined-benefit and defined-contribution pension plans supporting over 175,000 beneficiaries. In his dual role, he is responsible for setting investment strategy, managing operations, and guiding ISBI’s long-term strategic direction in partnership with the Board of Trustees.

Under his leadership, the ISBI has earned national recognition for private equity performance, including being ranked first among public pension plans by the American Investment Council for three consecutive years. The system has also reached a high watermark in its commitment to minority- and woman-owned investment firms, which now represent nearly half of the total portfolio. Mehta has further advanced fee efficiency, strengthened portfolio governance, and supported industry-leading retirement income research for DC plan participants.

For 2026, the ISBI will continue enhancing its private markets program, building on the successful launch of its first-ever co-investment platform with strategic partners Hamilton Lane and Franklin Park. The investment team is focused on remaining innovative while delivering incremental alpha to one of the highest-performing private equity portfolios in the public pension market.

Mehta previously served as ISBI’s deputy executive director, general counsel, and chief compliance officer, following earlier roles in investment consulting, legal advisory, and corporate finance. He earned a Bachelor of Business Administration in finance and economics and a Juris Doctor degree from Loyola University Chicago.

Molly Murphy is the chief investment officer of the Orange County Employees Retirement System (OCERS), where she oversees the $27B portfolio across public and private markets, including equities, fixed income, real assets, private equity, venture capital, and hedge funds. She joined OCERS in 2017 and has more than 30 years of investment experience.

Prior to OCERS, Murphy served for more than a decade as CIO for Mercy Health, where she led investment programs totaling approximately $5B. Earlier in her career, she was CIO of Seasongood Asset Management, which was acquired by RBC Capital Markets in 2007, and held investment management and trading roles at Fifth Third Bank and Fidelity Investments.

Murphy is actively engaged in industry thought leadership, serving on the IEEE Investment Committee and contributing to multiple nonprofit boards and investment committees throughout her career.

For 2026, Murphy and her investment team are focused on continuing to explore innovation themes across both portfolio strategy and investment operations. This includes advancing AI-related opportunities while also prioritizing human-centered investment strategies that balance technological transformation with long-term value creation.

She holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Miami University and a Master of Business Administration degree from Xavier University.

Walter Kress serves as chief investment officer at EY where he oversees the investment strategy and management of approximately $30 billion in retirement plan assets serving more than 100,000 participants. He also serves as a voting member of the EY Retirement Investment Committee and advises EY’s global affiliates as the Center of Excellence Global Head of Investment.

Kress brings more than 40 years of investment leadership experience across premier financial institutions, including senior roles at JPMorgan Chase, Mellon Institutional Asset Management, Dreyfus, and Prudential Securities. Throughout his career, he has led complex investment programs spanning public markets, private markets, and liability-driven strategies, with a strong record of fiduciary stewardship and innovation under stringent regulatory constraints.

An active industry leader, Kress serves on the Committee on the Investment of Employee Benefit Assets (CIEBA), where he chairs the Defined Contribution Committee, and is a trustee of the Catch-A-Lift Fund, supporting post-9/11 veterans.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance with a minor in economics from Syracuse University and earned the Certified Financial Planner designation from the College for Financial Planning.