EY Pension Appoints New Investment Chief | Chief Investment Officer

Walter KressOne of the “Big Four” consulting giants EY has tapped a new investment chief and treasurer for its pension fund, CIO has confirmed.

Walter Kress, who began his new role in October, is now responsible for managing the US firm’s pension and retirement plan investment portfolios, according to his LinkedIn.

Based in Secaucus, New Jersey, Kress is also in charge of developing a long-term strategy that is in line with EY’s operational priorities.

The new CIO comes from serving nearly 10 years at JP Morgan as managing director and COO for the New York-based financial giant’s retirement plans. There, he was responsible for the plans’ investment operations as well as “the oversight of the nonmarketable alternatives,” his LinkedIn said.

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Kress also spent more than two decades in a variety of positions at Mellon Institutional Asset Management, primarily retail fund manager Dreyfus, and Prudential Securities.

He holds a bachelor’s degree in finance and economics from Syracuse University and is also an elected member of the board of finance in Wilton, Connecticut.

Related: The Hartford Investment Club

steve davis sacramento county The Sacramento County Employees’ Retirement System (SCERS) has promoted Steve Davis to CIO.

Davis, who first joined SCERS in 2010 as an investment officer, had served as deputy CIO since July 2012.

“Steve has made important contributions to the evolution of SCERS’ investment program and the success we have achieved,” said CEO Richard Stensrud. “He had been instrumental in providing not only continuity to the investment program, but has also been an ‘idea generator’ and key driver in developing measures to improve the program.”

SCERS’ investment chief role had been vacant since January 2015, when then-CIO Scott Chan departed to lead public equities investments at the University of California.

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“An important reason for having an internal investment staff is that it facilitates succession planning and allows SCERS to ‘groom and grow’ investment talent,” said Rick Fowler, president of the fund’s board. “Steve has shown that he is ready to lead SCERS’ investment program.”

Prior to joining SCERS, Davis served as a senior research analyst at Concord Investment Counsel. He holds an MBA in finance from the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business.