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Asset Allocation

Equity Gains Buoy Ohio School Employees’ 7.4% Return in Fiscal 2023

The School Employees Retirement System of Ohio topped its benchmark and raised its asset value to $17.8 billion.

By Michael Katz




Double-digit equities gains were the main driver behind the School Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s 7.39% investment return for the fiscal year that ended June 30, beating its benchmark by 30 basis points and raising its asset value to more than $17.8 billion. 

Global equities were the top-performing asset class for the fiscal year, returning 15.6%, followed by global private credit, which returned 6.07%. However, both underperformed their benchmarks, by 93 and 217 bps, respectively.

The pension fund’s outperformance was mainly driven by its global private equity portfolio, which returned 2.54% and topped its benchmark—which lost more than 4%—by more than 650 bps. Global real assets were the next top outperformer for Ohio SERS, beating its benchmark by nearly 300 bps with a 1.30% return versus a 1.63% loss.

The fixed-income portfolio also contributed to the retirement system’s excess return with a 0.74% gain, compared with a 0.94% loss for its benchmark Bloomberg U.S. Aggregate Bond Index. Ohio SERS’ “opportunistic and tactical” portfolio was the only other significant contributor to its outperformance, as its 2.71% return topped its benchmark’s return of 1.06%.

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Additionally, the retirement system’s board of trustees unanimously approved at its September meeting a 2.5% cost-of-living adjustment increase for eligible benefit recipients in 2024. By law, the pension fund bases its COLA on the year-to-year change in the consumer price index from June 2022 to June 2023 for urban wage earners (CPI-W) with a floor of 0% and a cap of 2.5%.

According to SERS’ actuary, the CPI-W for the fiscal year was 2.3%. The board approved the statutory maximum of 2.5%, as its actuary projected the higher COLA amount will not materially impair the pension fund’s funded status.

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Home > News > Newsmakers > GuideStone Financial CIO David Spika to Retire at End of Year
Newsmakers

GuideStone Financial CIO David Spika to Retire at End of Year

Public investments director Brandon Pizzurro will succeed Spika to oversee the faith-based firm’s $20.2 billion in AUM.
By Michael Katz




David Spika, CIO of GuideStone Financial Resources, a Southern Baptist faith-based financial services firm with $20.2 billion in assets under management, has announced plans to retire at the end of the year.  The firm named Brandon Pizzurro, GuideStone’s director of public investments, to succeed Spika.

“David has done a tremendous job positioning us for this day,” GuideStone President Hance Dilbeck said in a release. “He worked diligently to integrate Investments as a true partner to the rest of the enterprise while helping to develop new investment distribution channels through GuideStone Investment Services, GuideStone Advisors and intermediary sales.”

Dilbeck also lauded Spika for expanding the firm’s faith-based investing strategies to include shareholder advocacy, proxy voting and impact investing.

“We have a deep bench from which to draw as we seek to grow our momentum in the marketplace,” Dilbeck added. Spika “has built a team that ensures we will not miss an opportunity to continue to serve our members and ministry partners.”

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Before joining Dallas-based GuideStone in 2017, Pizzurro worked at First Command Financial Services in Fort Worth, Texas, for seven years, first as an investment analyst and then as a senior investment analyst. Prior to that he was financial consulting director at 1st Global, also based in Dallas, for five years, and before that he was a financial advisor at Morgan Stanley.

“Brandon is a consummate professional who understands our members and ministry partners,” Dilbeck said. “He is ready to step into this this strategic role and will serve GuideStone well.”

Related Stories:

MetLife CIO Steven Goulart to Retire in August

Princeton Endowment President, CIO Andrew Golden to Retire in 2024

Kansas Pension CIO Elizabeth Miller to Retire in July

 

 

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