NEWS

Pennsylvania PSERS bullish on healthcare and technology for PE allocations

The $74.6bn made re-ups focused on healthcare and technology, following the market tailwinds

Mass PRIM’s fiscal year returns led by emerging markets and US equities, with zero staff turnover

The system recorded a gain of 9.9% with zero staff turnover during the fiscal year.

Somerville Retirement System searches for RE managers

The $427m pension fund is looking to commit $15m to $25m to a core, core plus, value added or opportunistic RE managers

NZ Super appoints chief risk officer

The $76.6bn fund has promoted Michael Mitchell from the role of acting chief risk officer, following the retirement of Mark Fennell earlier this year

U.K. Pensions and Lifetime Savings Association appoints director of policy and advocacy

Zoe Alexander has taken over the role of director of policy and advocacy, as Nigel Peaple plans to step down at the end of August

CalSTRS signals 8.4 percent net return for the 2024 fiscal year

The $341.1bn pension fund has a positive return for all its asset allocations except in real estate. 

Exclusive: Elias Bachmann considers private credit as a 'Gateway Drug'

 In this conversation Bachmann dives deep into impact investing, red flags in managers and his contrarian approach when making investment decisions. He will also be speaking at our 8th annual private wealth forum in Denver on October 29. 

National Employment Savings Trust appoints head of retirement

The $47bn system has promoted Mark Rowlands to head of retirement. 

Penn SERS considers co-investments a ‘cost effective way’ to invest in private equity; amid new allocation

The board approved a re-up of up to $200m to HarbourVest PA Co-investment Fund Tranche II L.P, capped at $50m allocation for 2024

Kansas PERS seeks international equity manager

The $27bn is searching for a new manager owing to issues over one watchlist manager on the roster. The system allocates $6.4bn to its equity program. 

University of California witnesses 12.2 percent returns for the fiscal year

The $98.6bn pension fund and endowment’s maximum returns came from its investment in S&P 500 index without tobacco or fossil fuels. 

Exclusive: CIO Shoaib Khan considers emerging markets an 'important area' of investments

The NJ Pension Fund CIO Shoaib Khan, who joined the pension fund in early 2021, is widening his investments for emerging managers. Owing to looming geopolitical concerns, back in 2022 the CIO reduced its allocation to private markets and improved their liquidity positioning. This allows them to sail smoothly in the current changing market environment. In this interview, the CIO dives deeper into manager selection, sectors he finds attractive and more. 

Interviews and Photos from the Sidelines of ALTS Chicago

ALTSCHI 2024 brought together over 450 professionals for a day of insightful discussions and networking in the heart of the Midwest. This investor-centric forum focused on delivering actionable content to those who manage, advise, allocate to, or oversee alternative assets. Our exclusive video interviews covered the latest hot topics, and some of the responses might surprise you.

Ford Foundation’s president to step down after 11 years

Darren Walker will step down by the end of 2025

Illinois Police seeks its first private credit manager

The $10.4bn system has released an RFP for its first private credit manager search with initial responses due August 6. 

Cbus Super has hired head of ESG integration

Talieh Williams, will take over the role of Justin Ginnivan, with a focus on supporting the fund’s long term sustainable returns

Kansas PERS commits $85m to a real estate fund

The $27bn pension fund has made a new commitment as a part of its non-core RE portfolio focused on non-traditional property types.

CalSTRS introduces a new division, draws fiscal year 2025 plan

The $337.9bn system has introduced a total fund management division alongside drawing plans for individual asset classes.

San Bernadino overallocates its real estate portfolio for the first time in three years

In a recent discussion, the system highlighted having a “high bar for new opportunities in the real estate sleeve” and made its only commitment of the year in April. 

NGS Super appoints deputy CIO, expands ESG teams

Michael Mi has been promoted, alongside Skye King and Wendy Fang responsible for expanding the ESG teams.

2024 Elite 100 CIOs

The Elite 100 is an esteemed list celebrating 100 Chief Investment Officers from Public Pension Funds, Endowments, Foundations, and Corporate Pension Funds. Each honoree is a commendable industry leader, recognized for their exceptional contributions and innovative strategies.

From the Sidelines: Interviews at our Institutional Retreat in Park City

Louisiana Teachers commits to an international small cap equity manager

Decision was made due to the poor performance of other managers on the roster.

Illinois Teachers searches for a real estate and real assets consultant

The current consultant StepStone’s contract will expire at the end of this year. 

Gary Draghi retires from the role of CIO

During his tenure at City of Hartford, Draghi worked with P. Wayne Moore and J. Sean Antoine

CalSTRS appoints a senior investment director

June Kim, the newly appointed senior investment director, will continue to work with the Global Equity team until a new director of Global Equity is hired.

CPP Investment appoints a new chief risk officer

Priti Singh and Heather Tobin have been promoted 

Exclusive: CIO Donald Pierce on real assets, impact of fed rates and more

The CIO of $15bn San Bernardino County Employees’ Retirement Association has incorporated new ways of rebalancing his portfolio since joining the fund. In the past, he had always stayed away from real assets. But as the market environment changes, so are his sentiments.

London CIV’s CIO steps down

Aoifinn Devitt, the CIO of $18.57bn fund will leave the role at the end of the year.

State of Maryland Retirement Fund Reduces Allocations to China and Private Equities

CIO Andrew Palmer discusses his best performing asset class and how he invests in the emerging markets space. 

Connecticut Retirement Plans and Trust Funds make mezzanine and secondaries allocations

The $56.2bn fund made commitments to Insight Partners Opportunities Fund II, Insight Partners Opportunities Fund II Co-Investment Sidecar Vehicle and Hollyport Secondary Opportunities IX

Texas Teacher Retirement System's new $329m commitments

The $193bn pension fund has made commitments to five managers, out of which three are new managers on the roster.

Johns Hopkins University begins search for a new vice president and CIO

The search looks to appoint the third CIO of the university who will be collaborating with external consultants for asset allocation and manager selection process.

The University of Utah is looking for director of investments

A recent LinkedIn job opening signaled a director of investments with Korn Ferry leading the search. 

CalSTRS and Kenny Lewis join for non-sponsored senior lending

The $337.9bn pension fund forms alliance with Kennedy Lewis Investment Management to focus on senior corporate lending for non-sponsored borrowers.

Exclusive Interview with Reggie Ford 

In this interview, Sovaida sat down with Reggie Ford, Motivational Speaker, Bestselling Author, and President, RoseCrete Wealth Management on the power of perseverance, the rising issues surrounding mental health and DE&I and the Black Tax.

Illinois Police has a new deputy CIO

Greg Turk will report to CIO Kent Custer. 

Greece's Growthfund has appointed a new CIO

Vasilis Theofanopoulos was named CIO of Growthfund, the National Fund of Greece on Monday

CalPERS makes new $10bn commitments to its climate transition plan

The $502bn system will commit $100bn to climate solutions by 2030. The system was first presented with the climate action plan in November.

New Mexico SIC makes new commitments to private credit and private equity

The $52.4bn system has committed $250m to specialty finance opportunities, early-stage investments in private companies and other strategies focused on publicly listed companies.

Milwaukee ERS makes new $50m commitment to real estate

The $6bn pension fund has invested in data centers through the Harrison Street fund.

Veritas Pension Insurance Company appoints new CIO

Laura Wickström has been promoted to CIO from deputy CIO, following Kari Vatanen’s resignation. 

Liquidity concerns push investors toward mid-market buyout strategies

The denominator effect, alongside fed rates, has placed allocators in a sticky position. When the markets were hot, GPs came back to a faster cycle than before that sped from 3 to four years to 18 to 26 months. 

EXCLUSIVE: Mika Malone on private credit, red flags in GPs and fed rates impact on investments

Mika Malone, the managing principal at Meketa Investment Group, talks about choosing the best managers, using AI to make decisions, fed rates, emerging markets and other topics of investor interest.

Nashville (Tenn) & Davidson County’s ex-CIO joins MC Credit Partners LP

Fadi BouSamra has moved to MC Credit Partners LP after serving as a Chief Investment Officer at Nashville (Tenn) & Davidson County for 20 years. 

California Appeals Court rules in favor of LACERA to set employment classification and salaries amid backlash from the county

The ruling states that Board of Supervisors must comply with the classifications and salaries within its own functioning

Virginia Retirement System discloses its recent commitments to its private equity and real assets portfolio

The $113bn system has most recently made $575m commitment to its RA portfolio and $300m to its PE portfolio, as shown in the June meeting materials.

Mississippi PERS may place two managers on watchlist

The $33.5bn fund inspects lagging performance and key person risk at two funds.

Exclusive with CIO Marcus Frampton of Alaska

During this in-depth interview, the chief investment officer of Alaska's oil-rich Alaska Permanent Fund discusses his strategies for energy, choosing managers, investing in credit, infrastructure and private equity.

WTW has Appointed a New Head of Growth in the US

Rich Joseph has been named the head of growth for WTW’s US-based investments.