Jeff Blazek

Jeff Blazek comes to consulting after having sat on both sides of the table. He was previously a portfolio manager with the Teachers’ Retirement System of Texas, where he was part of a team responsible for the investment performance of the $125 billion pension system. He was also on the investment team at New York Presbyterian Hospital. Both investment roles were punctuated by a stint at Cambridge Associates, the firm he returned to this year. 

During his prior work with Cambridge, he was one of the original architects of the firm’s pension practice model, and its unique and proprietary pension risk management framework. Now that he’s back, Blazek will be tasked with leading the development of Cambridge’s New York office—a new landing spot for the firm, which until now, hasn’t had a formal office in the city. He tells CIO that he’s excited to help build out the new office and build on relationships in New York.

“It has been really great to have the relationship that I do with Cambridge,” he says. “The scale of the organization and the quality of the people in it make it so that we can create really valuable outcomes for our clients.”

The scale and institutional knowledge at a place like Cambridge has also meant that Blazek has been able to offer advice that he says his clients aren’t going to get by relying on new technologies alone. “I think one of the places where the focus on technology in investing struggles is that investment committees often need someone who has seen markets first hand. Technology is helpful in a lot of ways, but it’s not enough on its own.”