Manager SelectionJuly 18, 2023

Church Pension Group Names Michael Hood CIO

Roger Sayler is retiring after nine years with the Episcopal Church’s investment manager.

Reported by Michael Katz

Michael Hood

The Church Pension Group, the investment manager for the Episcopal Church’s $18.4 billion pension fund, has named Michael Hood as its new CIO, effective Tuesday. He succeeds Roger Sayler, who retired at the end of June after nine years at the firm.

“We are excited to have Michael join the Church Pension Group,” Mary Kate Wold, CEO and president of the CPG, said in a release. “His impressive background in developing portfolio views and positioning for investors like CPG will serve our clients well and build upon the success Roger has had in managing our investment portfolio over the past nine years.”

Wold added that, “I want to thank Roger for his excellent and dedicated service, and we wish him the very best in his retirement.”

Hood joins CPG from J.P. Morgan Asset Management, where he was managing director in the company’s multi-asset solutions division and helped oversee portfolios totaling $350 billion. Prior to J.P. Morgan, Hood was chief economist at Traxis Partners, where he analyzed economies and markets in Asia, Europe and Latin America.

Hood also held various roles at Barclays Capital, where he was an economist and market strategist for Latin America and emerging markets, and worked at JPMorgan and JPMorgan Chase & Co., where he served as an economist for Latin America. He was also at the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, where he was an economist developing risk studies.

“I am thrilled to serve in this role and support the Church Pension Group’s vision in serving the Episcopal Church,” Hood said in a statement. “I have long been familiar with CPG, as both my grandfather and uncle served as Episcopal priests. I look forward to building upon Roger’s achievements and ensuring that CPG remains steadfast in meeting its financial obligations to those who serve the church.”

As of March 31, the Church Pension Fund reported three-, five- and 10-year annualized returns of 13.7%, 11.5% and 9.9%, respectively, outperforming its benchmark’s annualized returns of 10.0%, 8.7% and 7.6%, respectively, over the same periods.

The CPF’s asset allocation, as of the end of March, was 24% in private equity, 22.2% in global bonds, 22.2% in specialized strategies, 18.5% in global equities, 9.1% in real estate, 3.5% in private specialty strategies and 0.5% in cash.