Ex-CalPERS CIO to Lead Alaska Permanent | Chief Investment Officer

Russell Read, incoming CIO, Alaska Permanent FundAlaska’s sovereign wealth fund today named Russell Read as its new CIO.

Read spent two years as CIO of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, from 2006 to 2008.

Following that, Read led the Gulf Investment Corporation in Kuwait as CIO and deputy chief executive. He also served as deputy CIO of Deutsche Asset Management, and founded his own private equity firm.

He replaces Jay Willoughby at the Juneau, Alaska-based sovereign fund. Willoughby departed late last fall for the CIO position at outsourced-CIO provider The Investment Fund for Foundations.

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Former Alaska Permanent Fund CEO Mike Burns had retired four months earlier, later replaced by Angela Rodell.

Last month, the asset owner filled another top job, hiring New Jersey’s one-time pension CIO as a part-time paid advisor. Read’s appointment leaves one senior opening at Alaska Permanent—senior portfolio manager for private markets—down from at least four late last fall.

Read’s first day of work at the Alaska Permanent is May 9, according to the organization. His starting salary is $400,000.

Private equity investors don’t just want more transparency regarding fees—they’re also demanding that the portfolios themselves be less opaque.

A State Street survey found that 70% of institutional investors were demanding increased openness from private equity managers on the performance of underlying assets in each portfolio.

Nearly half (46%) said they wanted more information on risk exposures. A third (32%) called for greater transparency over net asset values, while 23% made the same call regarding fund cash flows.

“Both asset owners and asset managers require enhanced data and analytics solutions to demonstrate increased levels of transparency of underlying assets and risk exposures,” said JR Lowry, head of State Street Global Exchange in Europe, the Middle East, and Africa.

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This demand for risk and performance data will only continue to rise, according to 83% of asset owners surveyed. Nearly half (47%) said they believed demand would increase “significantly.”

Lack of transparency was one of the biggest obstacles for investors seeking to increase their direct exposure to private equity, according to 38% of respondents. It was second only to illiquidity as a reason not to increase allocations.

More than half (59%) still believed investments in private equity will increase over the next five years—but if transparency levels do not improve, 36% said they would decrease their exposure in response.

“Failure to provide sufficient levels of transparency increases the risk of driving asset owners away from investing in private equity,” said Lowry.