San Diego County Employees Retirement Association is considering bringing its chief investment officer position in-house along with adding as many as 17 new investment staff members, among proposals discussed Thursday by the board of the $7.4 billion system.
Lee Partridge currently handles the CIO duties on an outsourced basis.
In a report to the board, board member Loretta Morris said the ad hoc committee that is examining staffing issues also has taken “off the table” an option to outsource its entire investment staff.
The committee has asked current investment staff including CEO Brian White and Mr. Partridge to look at ways of “filling the gaps” in staff.
Mr. Partridge, who was hired Oct. 1, 2009, with an annual base pay of $535,000 and a 0.85 basis-point annual incentive fee, could be paid $886,000 in salary and bonuses under one of the proposals. Under another proposal, investment staff would grow to 30 from 17.
The board is looking to hire an outside consulting firm to compare salaries of public pension funds, private pension funds, endowments and the private sector. The analysis will compare the costs of a larger in-house staff to outsourcing some of the jobs.
Ms. Morris suggested the SDCERA board also could ask investment staff to become independent contractors in order to avoid asking the county for salary increases.
Mr. White will return to the board at its Aug. 19 meeting with a timetable for deciding staffing issues.
