(June 27, 2013) — The largest US public sector pension fund has decided to forgo the deputy CIO title, instead appointing Eric Baggesen as senior investment officer (SIO) for asset allocation and risk management.
CalPERS launched the search for a deputy CIO earlier this spring, appointing Ridgeway Partners to find one. But it appears the team have decided against appointing a deputy, and instead opted for a more collaborative team effort to sit beneath CIO Joe Dear.
Under the new arrangement, Baggesen, who was previously SIO for global equity, will become the SIO of asset allocation and risk management.
His global equities responsibilities will be handed to Dan Bienvenue, who currently serves as a senior portfolio manager in the asset class.
“Eric and Dan are proven team players who have the knowledge, philosophy and experience to help us achieve our investment objectives and position our portfolio for growth,” said Dear in a statement.
“We look forward to working with Eric and Dan in their new positions, and welcome Dan as a member of our senior management team.”
Baggesen joined CalPERS in 2004, having previously worked at State Street Global Advisors for eight years as the unit head of emerging markets in the global structured products group. He was named SIO for CalPERS global equity program in 2008.
In his new role, Baggesen is responsible for asset allocation implementation, and the monitoring and managing of CalPERS total investment portfolio.
Bienvenue joined CalPERS in 2004 after serving as a principal and senior portfolio manager with Barclays Global Investors, leading an international equity portfolio management team responsible for $55 billion across developed and emerging markets.
He was named senior portfolio manager for global equity at CalPERS in 2008. In that role he is responsible for implementing and directing CalPERS internally managed equity portfolios.
As acting SIO for global equity, Bienvenue is responsible for implementation and management of investment strategy and policy for the pension fund’s $138.5 billion portfolio in publicly traded equity investments worldwide.
Back in April, aiCIO asked its readers who they would choose as a deputy CIO for the $260 billion fund. The top three candidates voted for were Jagdeep Bachher, EVP at Alberta Investment Management (AIMCo), Don Pierce, CIO at San Bernardino Country Employees Retirement Association, and Eric Wetlaufer, head of public markets at Canada Pension Plan Investment Board (CPPIB).
In other CalPERS news, aiCIO‘s sister title The Trade revealed earlier this week that the fund had outsourced elements of its investment management system.
In order to streamline its operations, it has migrated to Charles River’s Investment Management Solution Version 9 for equities and foreign exchange, as well as transferring to a managed service for hosting, application management, FIX connectivity and real-time integrated data.
The move is part of a wider initiative to update CalPERS technology in order to reduce costs. Janine Guillot, chief operating investment officer at CalPERS, said: “Adding these services from Charles River is part of our work to update investment technology infrastructure across the organisation and will help us increase the efficiency of our operations and processes.
“This saves us time and money, which allows us to more effectively work to achieve the outcomes that our members depend on.”
Related Content: Who Should be the CalPERS Deputy CIO? and CalPERS Staff Urges Board to Adopt Risk-Factor Model