Paul Mouchakkaa was named senior investment officer for real assets at CalPERS.
Mr. Mouchakkaa will replace Ted Eliopoulos, who was appointed CalPERS chief investment officer in September. He will be in charge of the continued restructuring of the $296.5 billion pension fund’s real estate program.
Mr. Mouchakkaa is a managing director in Morgan Stanley’s real estate division, CalPERS said in a news release. Prior to Morgan Stanley, he was a managing director at Pension Consulting Alliance and a portfolio manager in CalPERS’ real estate group.
Mr. Mouchakkaa will be in charge of a $29.6 billion portfolio that consists primarily of real estate assets, but also contains smaller segments of infrastructure and forestland.
California Public Employees’ Retirement System, Sacramento, has been restructuring the portfolio since the financial crisis, moving away from opportunistic real estate investments and focusing on core real estate investments in fully leased apartment buildings and commercial buildings in major markets such as San Francisco and New York. The real estate program lost around $10 billion, or about half the portfolio, during the economic downturn.
CalPERS spokesmen Brad Pacheco and Joe DeAnda did not respond to an e-mail seeking additional information.
