Anouk van der Boor
The Directors Guild of America has appointed Anouk van der Boor as the new CIO of its Producer Pension and Health Plans, effective July 1.
The guild is an 88-year-old entertainment union that represents 18,000 employees and retirees in the film and TV industry, specifically directors and members of directorial teams.
The DGA-PPH plans have total assets of $4.7 billion. Beneficiaries of the pension and healthcare plans include current and retired directors, assistant directors, unit production managers, associate directors, stage managers, and production associates. The guild was founded in 1936, by an association of film directors led by film director King Vidor.
Van der Boor will succeed Edgar Smith, who was the guild’s first CIO when he was appointed to the position in 2022. Smith, who was also named a CIO NextGen in 2019, stepped down from the position in January of this year.
“It is an honor and privilege to join the DGA-Producer Pension and Health Plans to support its mission of providing these important benefits to DGA members and their families,” Van der Boor said in a press release. “I am excited to work with the Finance Committee to implement an investment strategy that generates attractive risk-adjusted returns while ensuring access to liquidity.”
Most recently, van der Boor was a managing director of private partnerships at the $2.5 billion Rockefeller University endowment. She was previously a partner and managing director at Cambridge Associates in the firm’s pension practice in Singapore and Boston. Cambridge Associates is also the investment consultant for the DGA.
Prior to her roles at Cambridge Associates, where she joined in 2005, she oversaw the endowment fund and investment office of Citizens Energy Corporation. She was also principal at the Boston-based strategy consulting firm The Parthenon Group. Van der Boor began her career in mergers and acquisitions at Merrill Lynch in London.
Van der Boor holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and a Bachelor of Arts from the European Business School.
“Anouk is a seasoned investor with a track record of delivering strong returns,” said Lisa Read, CEO of the DGA, in a press release. “Her deep experience in private markets and extensive network of manager relationships will open new opportunities for our pension and health plans.”
The Directors Guild of America
The guild offers two plans for participants, a defined benefit plan called the basic plan, and a defined contribution plan called the supplemental plan. Beneficiaries of the DB plan receive contributions to their pension from film and TV residuals.
The two plans have different portfolios. DGA’s s DB plan allocates 23.1% to fixed income, 21.1% to U.S. equities, 16.9% to diversifiers, 11.4% to global equities, 9% to private equity, 8.5% to real assets, 7.1% to credit, and 2.9% to cash. That portfolio returned 9.7% in 2023 and has performed 3.9% through March 31.
The supplemental plan, a DC plan, has a shorter time horizon for investments and has a higher need for liquidity than the basic plan. It allocates 31.4% to fixed income, 18.1% to fixed income, and 18% to diversifiers. Approximately 8.6% of the portfolio is allocated to real assets, 7.4% to credit, 3.9% to private equity and 2.6% to cash. The DC plan portfolio had returned 8.4% in 2023, and 3.7% through March 31.
Related Stories:
Directors Guild Pension Hires USC’s Edgar Smith to be First CIO