CalPERS Picks Local Real Estate Manager | Chief Investment Officer

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) has selected Hines as its new manager for Sacramento Venture real estate partnerships.

“Hines is a longtime CalPERS partner and has a strong history of successfully developing real estate projects in Sacramento and the Bay Area,” said Marcie Frost, CalPERS chief executive officer.

The Houston-based developer will be working on various projects for the $380 billion pension fund, specifically the 301 Capitol Mall site, a property that has been challenging for the pension.

Last week, the plan said it would end its contract with CIM Group, the site’s last developer. CIM wanted to make the site a 33-story, $550 million tower that was set to be Sacramento’s tallest, among other ideas. It is not clear if Hines will use some of those plans or scrap them for their own concepts.

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CalPERS recently revealed it had committed more than $3 billion in new additions to its core real estate investments. It had $35 billion in real estate assets as of June 30.

Hines has $124.3 billion in assets under management and 148 projects in development worldwide, according to its website.

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CalPERS Commits More than $3 Billion to Real Estate

CalPERS Terminates Real Estate Partner In Development Plan

Tags: CalPERS, CIM Group, Hines, Pension, Real Estate

William Priest

Well-known investment sage William Priest is stepping down as chief executive officer at Epoch Investment Partners (assets: $37 billion), which manages money for institutional and other high-end clients.

His departure from the top spot, effective April 1, 2020, is a milestone in a long Wall Street career. Priest has been, and no doubt will continue to be, a commentator on markets and economics. He is a member, for instance, of Barron’s Roundtable, where he and other Wall Streeters express their views on the passing scene. In an appearance this summer, he presented an in-depth case for why globalization has ended.

At Epoch, Priest will stay on as executive chairman and will keep leading the investment team as co-chief investment officer, the New York firm said in a statement. He will stay on as portfolio manager of Epoch’s Global Choice and Global Absolute Return strategies.

Philipp Hensler, Epoch’s president and chief operating officer, will replace Priest as the firm’s CEO. Priest co-founded Epoch in 2004. The firm is a subsidiary of Toronto Dominion Bank.

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“Investing remains my lifelong passion,” Priest said in a statement. “Best practice suggests a separation between the business of investing and the business of the investment business.” His shift, he added. “will allow me to focus solely on the former function.”

He was a member of the global executive committee of Credit Suisse Asset Management, chairman and CEO of CSAM Americas, and CEO and portfolio manager of its predecessor firm, BEA Associates, which he co-founded in 1972. He is the author of three books on investing, most recently Winning at Active Management: The Essential Roles of Culture, Philosophy and Technology (with Steven Bleiberg and Michael Welhoelter).

Priest holds the Chartered Financial analyst designation, is a former CPA, and is a graduate of Duke and the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton Graduate School of Business. He also is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations.

Tags: Epoch Investment Partners, Philipp Hensler, William Priest