Pfizer’s Pension Director Exits for Sloan Foundation

Monica Lai has been named senior investment director for the $1.8 billion fund.

Monica LaiMonica Lai (Art by Dadu Shin)The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation has poached Monica Lai from Pfizer.

Lai, who has spent more than six years at the pharmaceutical giant’s $13 billion US pension plan, has been named senior investment director, the foundation confirmed. Her first day was June 20.

In her new role, Lai reports directly to CIO Elizabeth Hewitt, who joined the $1.8 billion fund from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation last October.

As part of a four-person investment team, Lai will have responsibility over “all aspects of endowment management,” the New York-based foundation’s spokesperson told CIO. She will focus on asset allocation, risk assessment and mitigation, and manager selection and oversight, as well as portfolio performance analysis.

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At Pfizer, the Forty Under Forty alum most recently served as director of pension investments in charge of leading the team and broad portfolio activities. Previously, she was head of Pfizer’s alternatives portfolio consisting of hedge funds, private equity and debt, and real estate.

Lai also spent time at private equity firms Quadrangle Group and Harvest Partners. She holds a bachelor’s degree from Stanford University and an MBA from Dartmouth College.

Lai’s move is the second personnel change for the Sloan Foundation so far in 2016. In March, former Managing Director of Investments Michael Stambaugh left to lead the $820 million Carnegie Institution for Science.

Related: 2015 Forty Under Forty: Monica Lai & Robert Wood Johnson MD to Lead Sloan Foundation

Willis Towers Watson Names Global OCIO Chief

Kemp Ross joins after an eight-year spell at Aon Hewitt.

kemp ross willis towers watson ocioWillis Towers Watson has hired Kemp Ross to lead its $75 billion global outsourced-CIO (OCIO) business.

He joins from Aon Hewitt where he was head of solutions and operations for investment. Prior to joining in 2008, he worked at Mercer for 15 years.

In his new role, Ross will remain in Chicago and report to Global Head of Investments Chris Ford. In a statement, Ford praised Ross’ “proven business and leadership experience as well as strong investment experience.”

“Pension plans and other institutional investors around the world, of all sizes, continue to believe that the best way to achieve their investment objectives in the current environment is to outsource,” Ford said.

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Ross added that “the trend towards outsourcing is clear, as investors try to match their investment ambition with the right level and quality of resources.”

A qualified actuary, Ross has a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Carnegie Mellon University and a master’s degree in Applied Statistics from North Carolina State University.

The merger of Willis Group and Towers Watson was completed at the start of this year despite vocal opposition from shareholders including BlackRock and Driehaus Capital.

Related: OCIO Buyers’ Guide: Willis Towers Watson

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