Economou to Step Down from CERN Pension

Theodore Economou, the CEO and CIO of the CERN Pension, is to step down from the roles next year, Chief Investment Officer (CIO) has learned.

Economou, who joined the pension in 2009 as CEO, is to complete his second three-year term and not seek re-appointment to run the CHF4 billion ($4.45 billion) fund, CERN confirmed today.

Since joining, Economou and his team have restructured the fund, replacing its return-based approach with a risk-based one. Following his departure he will seek to distribute this “CERN Model” to institutional investors more widely.

“The objective at CERN was to create a model where talented CIOs would be able to make the best decisions,” he told CIO. “I am very proud that we have created a model through which a portfolio can deliver the most ‘bang for its buck’ relative to the risk being taken.”

“We couldn’t have achieved what we did without the board’s support.”

The ability to shift the model so dramatically was testament to the buy-in from the pension board, Economou said.

“I am also proud of the educational and implementation process,” he said. “We have 15 stakeholders and 20 countries represented. We couldn’t have achieved what we did without the board’s support.”

Economou, who also took on the CIO role after the departure of Gregoire Haenni in 2012, will be actively involved in finding his successor and is scheduled to step down at the end of August 2015.

The CERN pension won CIO’s Industry Innovation Award in 2012 for the “Best Public Pension Plan – Below $15 Billion”.

Economou remains the chair of the Geneva-based Lombard Odier pension fund and sits on the retirement committee of the Virginia Retirement System in the US.  

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