CalPERS' board is scheduled to interview finalists for a new chief investment officer to replace former CIO Nicole Musicco, who left in September.
CalPERS officials expect to have a candidate in place by the end of March, said Theresa Taylor, CalPERS board president, at the board's Feb. 21 meeting.
A subcommittee that included CEO Marcie Frost, who leads the interview process, board members and an executive team member, conducted the first round of interviews in January, said Michelle Tucker, human resources director for the $485.9 billion California Public Employees' Retirement System, Sacramento, at the same meeting.
During the next round of interviews, each candidate will be asked the same questions, but board members will be able to ask additional questions for clarity and additional information "relevant to candidates response or their profile," Tucker said.
However, she cautioned that panel members should "avoid entirely new questions that veer from the conversation."
Each interview is scheduled to last an hour and 45 minutes, she said.
"There will about … a lot to learn in a short period," Tucker said.
An initial CIO candidate pool of 140 was whittled down to a preliminary shortlist of 12 candidates, who were interviewed by the subcommittee, said Crawford Torell, principal of executive search firm Dore Partnership, at the same board meeting. Torell did not say who selected the preliminary shortlist. Tucker told the board that the executive search firm's role is to identify the pool and to provide insight on the candidates.
About a third of the shortlist candidates, 33%, were diverse with 17% based on gender and 16% from underrepresented groups, Torell said. She added that 38% of the candidates interviewed by the subcommittee are diverse candidates and that 25% of the finalists to be interviewed by the board are diverse candidates. Torell did not reveal the number of candidates the subcommittee would be interviewing or the number of candidates the board would be interviewing.
