Mayall Quits Insurance CIO Role after 18 Months

(January 10, 2014) — Wendy Mayall, the former Unilever pension CIO and City of London heavyweight, has quit the insurance company she joined in June last year.

Mayall, one of aiCIO’s Power 100, has been a dominant force in finance since accusing Merrill Lynch Investment Management (now morphed into BlackRock) of negligently managing Unilever’s pension money in 2001. The asset manager settled out of court for £70 million.

After leaving the grocery giant in 2011, she spent a brief period consulting before taking up the LV role of managing the insurance assets and the company’s pension scheme. There she oversaw an outsourced relationship with Threadneedle Investments, which ran the bulk of the money.

She took over the role after the departure of Steven Daniels, another aiCIO Power 100 member, who went on to run the Tesco pension fund as CIO.

Never miss a story — sign up for CIO newsletters to stay up-to-date on the latest institutional investment industry news. 

Philip Clements joined LV from advisory firm AFH Financial, and has been in place as Mayall’s “number two” for some time, according to Mayall.

He will take over the responsibility for running the Threadneedle assets, while Mayall will continue to work with the insurer on a consultancy basis, the company confirmed to aiCIO.

Mayall, who is on the advisory panel for aiCIO’s European Innovation Awards in May this year, was unreachable for comment at the time of going to press.

UPDATE: January 10, 2014, 14:59

aiCIO has since spoken to Mayall, who said her work at LV will primarily revolve around assisting the company’s pension fund by sitting on the investment committee.

She will also assist the new CIO when one is appointed, thought to be in several months’ time.

“I went to LV primarily to establish and make a success of the relationship with Threadneedle, and that’s now in good shape,” she said.

“After 18 months, the job was done, so I hired myself a number two, Phil Clements, who is more than capable. Now I want to go back to doing what I was before the LV job came along. I’ve really enjoyed it, but now I’m itchy-footed again.”

Mayall is already a director of the Aberdeen UK Tracker Trust, and has done some work with the Isle of Man government helping to promote the location as a financial hub.

Her work with these two entities will continue, Mayall said, but she was also seeking other directorships within asset management.

Additional reporting by Charlie Thomas.

(January 9, 2014) — Joe Dear, CIO of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), is taking temporary leave effective immediately due to health reasons, aiCIO has learned.

The decision was made after much discussion with CEO Anne Stausboll and investment committee Chair Henry Jones, according to the fund.

Ted Eliopoulos, senior investment officer for real assets unit, will be serving as acting CIO as Dear continues his treatment.

“As he has been, Joe will continue to participate periodically in meetings and calls so that he can provide his expertise on important issues,” sad Rob Feckner, board president of the $277 billion fund.

For more stories like this, sign up for the CIO Alert newsletter. 

Dear has served as CIO of the largest public pension fund in the United States since 2009.

Prior to this role, he was the executive director for the Washington State Investment Board, chief of staff for Washington State Governor Gary Locke, and served as assistant secretary of labor at the Occupational Safety and Health Administration of the Clinton Administration. He received a B.A. in political economy from The Evergreen State College.

The entire aiCIO staff wishes Mr. Dear all the best for a full and swift recovery.