The California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS), which has $494.6bn of assets under management, has appointed Stephen Gilmore as its new chief investment officer (CIO).
Gilmore succeeds Nicole Musicco, who left the largest public pension fund in the US last September. He will officially start his role as CIO in July.
"I'm grateful to CalPERS' leaders for the trust they've put in me to help shape the pension fund's next chapter," Gilmore said, commenting on his appointment.
Currently, Gilmore is the chief investment officer at the New Zealand Superannuation Fund, a sovereign wealth fund valued at more than $73bn (NZD), which has seen annual investment returns of more than 12% a year over the past decade, CalPERS said.
Prior to this, Gilmore was the chief investment strategist at the Future Fund, Australia’s sovereign wealth fund. He has also held senior international positions with AIG Financial Products and Morgan Stanley, as well as assignments with the International Monetary Fund and the Reserve Bank of New Zealand.
Marcie Frost, CalPERS’ chief executive, said: “Stephen has worked in very public roles during his career for organisations where transparency and resiliency are essential.
“He brings not only a wealth of investing knowledge to the job, but he also has the temperament to understand the needs of our members and public sector employers who depend on CalPERS to be a steady, long-term partner."
Gilmore’s appointment comes as CalPERS launched a new investment strategy at the end of last year, which will see the pension fund invest $100bn in climate solutions over the next six years. This was double what CalPERS had originally committed to the asset class.
