Mass PRIM Beefs Up Staff, Adds Stewardship Position

Massachusetts Pension Reserves Investment Management, which manages the $95 billion pension for the state’s employees, has named Veena Ramani as director of stewardship, among other key hires.

Ramani, who began in the newly created role April 28 and reports to Deputy CIO David Gurtz, joins Mass PRIM from nonprofit research institute FCLTGlobal, where she was director of research. While at FCLTGlobal, Ramani oversaw the research team and worked with asset owners, asset managers and corporations to develop research intended to drive long-term value creation for investors.

Before joining FCLTGlobal, Ramani worked at sustainability nonprofit Ceres for nearly 15 years, holding several different roles. Her work included running campaigns to engage financial regulators on climate change risk; developing an online training curriculum for corporate board members on environmental, social and governance considerations; and engaging with large corporations on their sustainability and climate change strategies and disclosures.

Mass PRIM also hired Ethan Spencer as a senior investment officer on the pension fund’s portfolio completion strategies team. Spencer, who will report to team head Bill Li, was most recently managing partner at Eastern Point Capital. Prior to that, Spencer held positions at the Boston University Investment Office, Cambridge Associates and Credit Suisse First Boston.

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Additionally, the pension fund named Riya Shah to the newly created position of investment compliance analyst. Shah, who will report to Chief Investment Operating Officer Matt Liposky, will assist with investment manager guideline monitoring, regulatory and state filings, and operational due diligence. She joins Mass PRIM from State Street, where she was an enterprise technology risk analyst on the bank’s compliance team.

Finally, John Fitzpatrick was tapped to the newly created position of legal and governance analyst. Fitzpatrick, who will report to General Counsel Renee LeFevre, joins Mass PRIM from Boston-based law firm Laredo & Smith.