Alec Stais left his position as chief investment officer of the $8.3 billion Rhode Island Employees' Retirement System, Providence, for a similar position with Providence Health & Services in Renton, Wash.
"Alec informed us in late April that he would be pursuing a new opportunity on the West Coast. We are grateful to have had his service and expertise and wish him well in this next phase," Evan England, spokesman for Rhode Island Treasurer Seth Magaziner, said in an email.
Mr. England said there was no news yet of a replacement.
The Rhode Island pension system outperformed most of its peers in the first quarter of 2020, according to data released by Investment Metrics, formerly MSCI InvestorForce. During the quarter, it bested the median U.S. public pension plan by 4.2%, ranking it 28th out of 546 public pension funds nationwide, according to Investment Metrics. As markets reacted to the coronavirus outbreak, the median public pension plan returned -13.8%, while Rhode Island's plan declined -9.6%, and its crisis protection allocation rose 15.1%. The $800 million crisis protection allocation was added in 2016 to help during times of market stress.
