CalSTRS among institutions seeing leadership changes

CalSTRS was among a number of the largest institutional investors in the world announcing leadership changes earlier this month.

Cassandra Lichnock will take over as CEO on July 1 for the $299.8 billion California State Teachers' Retirement System.

The first woman to serve as the pension fund's CEO in its 108-year history, Ms. Lichnock will replace current CEO Jack Ehnes, who is retiring June 30.

Ms. Lichnock is currently CalSTRS' chief operating officer, having served in that position since March 2013.

She originally joined CalSTRS in August 2008 as human resources executive officer.

A CalSTRS spokeswoman said Ms. Lichnock will be recruiting for a replacement in her position as COO.

In March 2020, Mr. Ehnes originally announced his intention to retire in September 2020, but he delayed his retirement to continue leading the plan through the COVID-19 pandemic. He joined CalSTRS in 2002.

Theresa Whitmarsh, executive director of the Washington State Investment Board, plans to retire Dec. 31.

Ms. Whitmarsh joined the Olympia-based board in 2003 and served as chief operating officer until she replaced Joe Dear as the board's top executive in 2009.

An executive search for her replacement has been launched, a news release said May 21.

"The WSIB has been a job of a lifetime and a professional privilege to help lead one of the finest mission-focused investment groups in our industry," Ms. Whitmarsh said in the news release. "I am humbled every day by our board's dedication and our staff's capabilities. Now it's time for me to pass this stewardship role to a new leader so that I can enjoy my time as a beneficiary of Washington state's top-ranked retirement system."

Ms. Whitmarsh has also served in 2016 and 2017 as chairwoman of the Council of Institutional Investors and is currently the vice chairwoman of the advisory board serving the Millstein Center for Global Markets and Corporate Ownership.

The Washington State Investment Board oversees $164.9 billion in assets, including $127.8 billion in defined benefit plan assets.

Seoungho Jin will start a three-year term as CEO of Korea Investment Corp. on May 18, a KIC spokeswoman confirmed.

Mr. Jin will replace Heenam Choi at the helm of the $183.1 billion, Seoul-based sovereign wealth fund.The spokeswoman said Mr. Jin led the Presidential Committee on Balanced National Development from 2019 to 2021. Before that, he was an executive at Korea's Ministry of Economy and Finance, where he was most recently head of the international economic affairs bureau.

Toru Shindo was named chief investment officer of the $80.3 billion United Nations Joint Staff Pension Fund, New York.

Mr. Shindo, who is currently deputy director, global equities, for the pension fund's office of investment management, will take on the role of CIO in June, UNJSPF spokeswoman Regina Oliveira in an email.

He replaces Herman Bril, who had the title of director of the investment management division. Mr. Bril joined Arabesque Asset Management as its CEO earlier this year, according to that manager's website.Ms. Oliveira said the CIO title is new. Mr. Shindo will solely oversee the investment management of the pension fund without the responsibilities overseeing independent risk management, compliance, operations and back office the director role included, she said.

Martin Noven was named executive director of the $65.5 billion Maryland State Retirement & Pension System, Baltimore.

Mr. Noven, who resigned as executive director of the $22.1 billion Illinois State Universities Retirement System in February, will take over July 1 for R. Dean Kenderdine, who will retire June 30, the system announced May 19.

"I am excited to work with an exceptional team to deliver hard-earned retirement benefits to Maryland workers," Mr. Noven in a news release. "The Maryland State Retirement Agency is nationally recognized as a well-run public pension plan and it is indeed an honor to be selected to take the helm of this fine organization."

Prior to his role at Illinois SURS, Mr. Noven was senior director for government markets at TIAA-CREF, and worked in various management positions at the Illinois State Treasurer's Office from 1993 to 2007, Maryland noted in the news release.

Mr. Kenderdine, who has served as the pension fund's executive director since 2007, announced his retirement plans in October.EFL Associates assisted with the search.

Dominic Garcia, chief investment officer of the $16.4 billion New Mexico Public Employees Retirement Association, Santa Fe, will be leaving, effective June 4, according to a news release.

Kristin Varela, deputy CIO, who has served under Mr. Garcia since 2017, will lead the investments team in the interim until a replacement is found.

Mr. Garcia became CIO of New Mexico PERA in 2018 from State of Wisconsin Investment Board, Madison, where he was a senior alpha manager. The board manages $143.9 billion in assets, including the $120.2 billion Wisconsin Retirement System.Earlier in his career, he had served as deputy CIO of New Mexico PERA.

Peter Chun was named the next CEO of UniSuper, Melbourne, the A$95 billion ($73.8 billion) super fund focused on Australia's higher education and research sector.

Mr. Chun will replace Kevin O'Sullivan on Sept. 6. Mr. O'Sullivan, with eight years at the helm, will stay on until then to ensure a smooth transition, according to a UniSuper news release May 26.

Mr. Chun was group executive, member growth, at Aware Super, Sydney. He was responsible "for leading the brand, marketing, digital, product and business development functions" at the A$140 billion super fund.

Mr. Chun's last day at Aware Super was May 26, a spokeswoman said. The executive led Aware Super through a recent rebranding exercise while delivering "an award-winning app that has put super right into the hands of our million-plus members," she noted.

The spokeswoman said Debra Mika, senior executive and chief of staff at Aware, will assume Mr. Chun's role on an interim basis, while a search, covering both internal and external candidates, is conducted to identify a permanent replacement.Mr. Chun's experience at Aware could prove useful in light of UniSuper's recent announcement it will open the fund to new participants from outside the higher education and research sector, starting in July, with an eye to accelerating the scale of a participant base that currently stands at 450,000.

Greg Schuler is resigning as chief investment officer at University of Pittsburgh to pursue other opportunities, spokesman Kevin Zwick confirmed in an email.

Effective June 30, Paul Lawrence, the university's treasurer, will serve as acting CIO while the university seeks a permanent replacement. Mr. Lawrence will continue to serve as treasurer in addition to overseeing the school's $4.7 billion endowment.Mr. Schuler joined the university as CIO in 2018.

Josh Harris, co-founder of Apollo Global Management, is stepping down from his day-to-day role after being passed over for the firm's top job.

Mr. Harris will transition to a new role when Apollo's acquisition of Athene Holding is completed early next year, the firm said in a statement May 20. He'll continue to serve as an Apollo director and the board's executive committee.

The firm tapped Marc Rowan earlier this year to succeed Leon Black as CEO. Mr. Harris has since relinquished day-to-day handling of operations and been less involved in deal-making.

"It is time for me to start the next chapter of my career, where I will focus full-time on the platforms I've created outside of the firm," Mr. Harris said in the statement. His outside interests include his stakes in NBA's Philadelphia 76ers and the New Jersey Devils hockey team and the family office that manages his estimated $6.6 billion fortune.The past year has been a tumultuous one for Apollo. Mr. Black's financial ties with sex offender Jeffrey Epstein threatened fundraising as some investors put their commitments on hold. Mr. Harris' shift could further complicate efforts to move on from the drama because he's a "key man" on Apollo's flagship buyout fund, which means investments would be put on pause without him.

Ted Pick and Andy Saperstein were named co-presidents at Morgan Stanley, part of a series of executive moves within the firm.

Effective June 1, they replace Colm Kelleher, who retired as president in June 2019, confirmed Morgan Stanley spokesman Mark Lake.

Mr. Pick will be responsible for Morgan Stanley's international operations and co-lead the firm's strategy and execution group along with Head of Investment Management Dan Simkowitz. Meanwhile, Mr. Saperstein will be responsible for all wealth management businesses and global firmwide marketing.

Messrs. Pick and Saperstein will both report to Morgan Stanley Chairman and CEO James Gorman. Mr. Pick leads Morgan Stanley's Institutional Securities business, while Mr. Saperstein leads the company's wealth management business. They will continue to assume these responsibilities.

Gregor Hirt was named global CIO for multiasset at Allianz Global Investors, a spokesman confirmed.

Mr. Hirt will replace Ingo Mainert, CIO for multiasset Europe, who held the role on an interim basis in addition to his responsibilities, following the death of Thomas Zimmerer in November.

Mr. Hirt is to join the firm July 1 and be based in Frankfurt.

He will focus on client demand, including risk management and multiasset liquid alternative strategies, and report to Deborah Zurkow, global head of investments.

"As well as significant experience across asset management and wealth management, Greg has deep appreciation for quantitative discipline while having a background in fundamental analysis," Ms. Zurkow said in a news release May 19.

Mr. Hirt worked as global head of discretionary portfolio management at Deutsche Bank.