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Manager SelectionJanuary 10, 2023

LACERA Seeks to Fill Newly Created Deputy CIO Role

Los Angeles County fund administrator is looking for candidates to help Jon Grabel oversee a $67.6 billion portfolio.

The $67.6 billion Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association is looking for candidates to fill the agency’s newly created position of deputy CIO. [Source]

LACERA oversees pension funds for employees of the County of Los Angeles and of outside districts, as well as the Other Post-Employment Benefits Trust, is the largest county retirement system in the U.S. The new deputy CIO will report directly to CIO Jon Grabel and will join the investment division’s senior leadership team, according to a job posting on its website.

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The creation of the deputy CIO position was initially approved in June 2021, but the County of Los Angeles Board of Supervisors unanimously blocked it and other LACERA personnel decisions, resulting in a lawsuit filed in October 2021 with intent of confirming LACERA’s independence.

Responsibilities for the position include assisting the CIO in planning, organizing and directing all operations of LACERA’s investment division. The pension fund is looking for candidates with at least five years of experience in leading, managing and mentoring a large team of professionals. LACERA’s investment division has a staff of 45 teams that manage real assets and inflation hedges; credit and risk mitigating strategies; portfolio analytics; and stewardship and corporate governance.

The deputy CIO will be responsible for duties such as internal oversight, managing board packages and day-to-day administration of the investment division, such as staffing and personnel issues and monitoring individual portfolios. The DCIO will also be expected to lead progress on strategic initiatives, including the expansion of environmental, social and governance initiatives, compliance and governance. The DCIO will also be a liaison between LACERA and county agencies, the public and public agencies.

Essential job functions include, among others:

Overseeing the principal investment officers and the overall investments and administration of the investment office;
Evaluating the performance of the principal and senior investment officers, including their role as supervisors of staff;
Evaluating the performance of external investment managers and funds;
Collaborating with the board of investments’ consultants and LACERA’s custodian, State Street;
Assisting with development of business continuity and disaster recovery plans for the investment division;
Formulating and evaluating organizational policy, operational practices and programs; and
Acting in absence of the CIO.

The pay package for the position includes a base salary in the range of $323,209.44 to $489,202.44, including benefits. LACERA has hired executive search firm EFL Associates to help with the search.

Pension Spending Supported $1.3 Trillion in Economic Output During Pandemic

Report finds strong economic gains attributable to DB pension expenditures in 2020 despite COVID-19 outbreak.

By Michael Katz

Despite the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, retiree spending of public and private sector pension benefits in 2020 generated $1.3 trillion in total economic output, according to a new report from the National Institute on Retirement Security.

The report summarizes the calculated national economic impacts of U.S. pension plans, as well as the impact of state and local plans on a state-by-state basis, by estimating the employment, output, value added and tax impacts of pension benefit expenditures. The two major sources that generate tax revenue are taxes paid by beneficiaries directly on their benefits and taxes resulting from expenditures made in the local economy, such as sales taxes.

Analysis in the report found that approximately $612.6 billion in aggregate public and private pension benefits paid out during 2020 supported more than $1.3 trillion dollars in overall economic output in the national economy and nearly 6.8 million jobs in the U.S.

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Approximately $718.6 billion in economic activity derived from state and local pension benefit expenditures, $191.2 billion from federal pension expenditures, $296.8 billion from single employer pensions and $99.9 billion from multiemployer plans. The study also found that the benefits contributed nearly $160 billion in total tax revenue, including just under $63 billion in federal tax revenue and close to $95 billion added to state and local coffers.

“The impact of pensions goes so much deeper than providing financial security to retirees, which we saw in real time during the global pandemic,” Dan Doonan, NIRS’ executive director and co-author of the report, said in a statement. “During this time, pension income was crucial for millions of Americans. In contrast, many retirees relying on individual savings in 401(k) accounts during the height of the pandemic were fearful to spend their savings, which is detrimental to the economy.”

The study found that the largest employment impacts occurred in the food services, healthcare and retail trade industries. According to the report, in 2020, pension expenditures supported 326,024 jobs in the retail industry, 547,819 jobs in full- and limited-service restaurants and 662,188 jobs in the health-care industry, such as nursing and community care facilities, hospitals and physicians’ offices.

The states with the largest total output and value added impact included California, which had $76.1 billion in output and $47.9 billion in value added impact, and New York, which had $35.8 billion in output and $23.7 billion in value added impact.