San Diego County Employees CEO to leave April 30

David Wescoe, San Diego County Employees Retirement Association's CEO, is leaving April 30 to accept a job in the private sector, said a news release from the $11.9 billion pension fund.

Mr. Wescoe informed the board of his retirement at its April 16 meeting, the news release said. The board was scheduled to conduct a performance evaluation of the CEO in closed session at the meeting.

"Given all of SDCERA's organizational accomplishments during the past five years, I have been considering for some time accepting another challenge," Mr. Wescoe told the board. "And, there is nothing like the COVID-19 pandemic to accelerate that focus."

He said the pension fund has weathered the coronavirus crisis "without missing a beat."

Mr. Wescoe joined SDCERA in 2015, first as interim CEO, after the resignation of former CEO Brian White. At the time, the pension fund was moving from its outsourced CIO model and in the midst of searches for a new chief financial officer, a general counsel and in-house chief investment officer. When he was hired as interim CEO, Mr. Wescoe was president of Efficient Market Advisors, SDCERA's management consultant.

Richard Vortmann, a trustee on the SDCERA board, also resigned April 16. His term was not scheduled to expire until June 30, according to a separate news release. Mr. Vortmann was first appointed to the SDCERA board by the of San Diego County Board of Supervisors in 2010.

In a written statement, Mr. Vortmann said his retirement from the board "has been a while coming, but it is the appropriate time to 'retire' now."

The board set up a subcommittee to select an interim CEO. No decision has yet been made on whether the board will hire a search firm to select a new CEO.