Arizona Pension Names CIO | Chief Investment Officer

Karl Polen, Arizona State Retirement SystemThe Arizona State Retirement System (ASRS) has named Karl Polen CIO following the departure of longtime chief Gary Dokes.

Polen joined the $32 billion pension fund in September 2010 and until now served as its head of private markets investing. He came to ASRS after 30 years in private-sector finance, including roles as executive vice president at Pivotal Group and CFO at Robson Communities.

“Karl has demonstrated extraordinary talent in all relevant areas of investment management, including real estate, private equity, private debt, asset allocation, research, and leadership,” Director Paul Matson said in a statement. “With this breadth of experience, I’m confident the ASRS will continue to be a top-tier investment performer.”

Polen replaces former CIO Dokes, who announced last month he would leave the pension fund after two decades to serve as the inaugural investment chief of the $760 million Arizona Community Foundation.

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“During his tenure, the ASRS investment division has become recognized as a leader in public fund asset management with consistent top quartile performance,” Matson said in a statement at the time. “He will be missed and we wish him success in his new position.”

Polen has served on the boards of the Central Arizona Project and the Boys and Girls Clubs of Metropolitan Phoenix. He holds an MBA from Vanderbilt University.

Mats Andersson, AP4Mats Andersson, CEO of Sweden’s AP4, is to leave the pension fund after nearly 10 years at the helm.

He has offered to remain in place until a permanent replacement is found, according to a statement on AP4’s website.

“It has been a privilege during the past 10 years, along with all the talented and dedicated employees, to lift AP4 to a position with the best returns and greatest capital among the AP funds,” Andersson said.

Andersson, a member of CIO’s Power 100 list of influential asset owners, indicated that he would seek to widen his involvement in responsible and environmental investment projects. He currently leads the Portfolio Decarbonization Coalition, which has brought together asset owners and managers running $100 billion to pledge to reduce the carbon outputs of their portfolios.

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He is also a board member for the Global Challenges Foundation, based in Sweden, which aims to “reduce the risks of the major global catastrophes.” Founder László Szombatfalvy has already offered Andersson a more active role in the foundation, the outgoing CEO said.

Andersson was also a vocal opponent—along with several of his colleagues at Sweden’s other public funds—of proposed reform of his country’s pension system. The Swedish government abandoned plans to merge away AP6 and one other fund at the end of last year.

Andersson’s resignation follows that of AP4’s CIO Magnus Eriksson just two weeks ago. He is set to leave the fund in June. Equity chief Björn Kvarnskog left the SEK310 billion ($36 billion) fund at the end of 2015 to join Australia’s Future Fund.