Dallas Police & Fire Pension Names Inaugural CIO

James PerryThe Dallas Police & Fire Pension System (DPFP) has hired its first CIO.

The $3.1 billion retirement fund named James Perry as its investment chief, scheduled to begin September 1.

Perry is currently serving as assistant CIO and assistant vice chancellor for Texas Tech University System’s $1.1 billion endowment. He began in March 2014.

Working closely with CIO Tim Barrett, Perry has been “instrumental in restructuring several major asset classes, including private equity and real estate,” DPFP said. He was also responsible for leading Texas Tech’s efforts in credit, alternative equity, and liquid real assets, according to his LinkedIn profile.

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“He has impressive credentials and the relevant experience to lead our portfolio,” said Kelly Gottschalk, DPFP’s executive director. “We believe he is the right person to lead our investments strategy moving forward and will help us achieve our long-term goals.”

The Dallas pension plan suffered a 9% hit to its portfolio after overstating returns on its real asset investments, reporting losses of $460 million for 2014.

Advisors Buck Consultants told the DPFP board last month that the pension plan could run out of money within 25 years.

“Considering the magnitude of the 2014 and 2013 losses, as well as the size of the nontraditional assets, we may need to reevaluate how the asset return is determined,” Buck Consultants said in July.

The consultant said the pension fund is currently 71.4% funded. DPFP’s documents reported a net loss of 3.8% for the year ending March 31, 2015.

Prior to his position at Texas Tech, Perry was a senior investment officer at the San Bernardino County Employees’ Retirement Association (SBCERA) for almost a decade.

At SBCERA, Perry introduced direct hedge funds and took charge of the development and expansion of the fund’s diversified global debt portfolio.

He was also a “significant contributor” in developing SBCERA’s tactical asset allocation strategies and constructing the portable alpha program, his LinkedIn profile said.

Perry has an MBA from National University and a bachelor’s degree from the University of Houston. He is also a Chartered Financial Analyst and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst.

China’s financial authorities are to relax equity investment rules for the country’s main pension fund, as they grapple with plunging stock prices.

The country’s State Council gave approval on Sunday for up to 600 billion yuan ($94 billion) to be invested by the Chinese “basic pension insurance fund” into the stock market, according to state-run news agency Xinhua.

“The management of the funds must prioritize safety and firmly control risks.” —China State CouncilThe fund has roughly 3.5 trillion yuan in assets, 2 trillion of which is available for investment. With the proposed new rules allowing up to 30% of a fund’s assets to be invested in equities and equity funds, roughly 600 billion yuan could be channelled into China’s stock markets.

The State Council called for an “active and cautious” approach to equity investing, Xinhua reported. “The management of the funds must prioritize safety and firmly control risks,” the council said.

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The rule change comes after Chinese authorities have struggled to support the country’s equity indexes through a turbulent summer.

The Shanghai Composite has fallen in value by more than a third since its peak in mid-June, according to Bloomberg data, completely wiping out the index’s gains made in the first half of the year. It fell a further 9% today.

Hong Kong’s Hang Seng index has traced a similar path, plunging 21.2% since its peak at the end of April to finish on Friday down 6.1% for 2015 so far.

During the worst of the sell-off in June and July, a wave of Chinese companies stopped their shares from trading on local exchanges to prevent further falls, and the regulator temporarily banned investors holding stakes higher than 5% from selling.

The People’s Bank of China devalued the yuan by 2% earlier this month in an effort to boost exports, spooking equity markets further.

Officials said the new pension investment rules were aimed at diversifying local and regional pension funds’ investment channels and enhancing income. China’s demographics are set to change dramatically in the years ahead as more and more people retire—already, 10% of the country’s population is over the age of 65.

Separately, Xinhua also reported over the weekend that roughly 62 billion yuan will become eligible for trading this week as lock-up rules expire. Some investors are required to hold stocks for up to two years before trading under current rules. The amount expected to become tradable this week is the highest on record.

Dutch asset manager NN Investment Partners recently warned that investors could be underestimating the risks posed by China’s stock market woes, but a survey by Bank of America Merrill Lynch earlier this month found that fund managers considered China the biggest tail risk to their portfolios.