(January 23, 2014) — Jagdeep Singh Bachher, executive vice president of Canada’s Alberta Investment Management Corporation (AIMCo), has been appointed as CIO of the University of California (UC) Board of Regents.
He will leave AIMCo after five years and will head the university’s $80 billion in assets on April 1.
“I’m grateful and humbled by this phenomenal opportunity to join the University of California,” Bachher said in a statement. “I know that working to ensure the health and longevity of the university’s financial assets has a direct impact on UC’s educational, research, and public service mission. This is a chance to really make a difference.”
Bachher will manage UC’s pension, endowment, short-term, and total return investment vehicles, and work with more than 50 investment staff members.
“The university is extremely fortunate that Jagdeep has agreed to take on the pivotal role of chief investment officer,” said Regent Paul Wachter, chairman of the regents’ committee on investments. “His quantifiable talents in the field of institutional investing, combined with his strengths as a manager and communicator, make him especially suited to UC. I look forward to working with him.”
The Canadian was selected from a pool of candidates around the world after former CIO Marie Berggren’s retirement in July 2013.
Bachher holds a BASc in mechanical engineering and an MASc and PhD in management sciences from the University of Waterloo. Prior to his position at AIMCo, he served as president at JH Investments and worked in US wealth management and Canadian investments at Manulife. Currently, he serves as a visiting scholar in the Global Projects Center at Stanford University and chairman emeritus of the Institutional Investors Roundtable. Bachher ranked #78 on aiCIO’s Power 100 in 2013.
Bachher will receive an annual base salary of $615,000 and will be eligible in an annual incentive plan with a target award of 100% of his base salary, with a maximum potential award of 165%.
UC’s Associate CIO Melvin Staton and Senior Managing Director of fixed income Randy Wedding will continue to fill in the CIO role until Bachher moves to Oakland.
Related content: Jagdeep Singh Bachher Believes in a De-Risked World, Power 100: Jagdeep Bachher