CalPERS taps New Zealander as new CIO for $495B fund
Stephen Gilmore oversaw some of the pension-investing world’s best returns at his country’s sovereign wealth fund. He’s now taking one of the industry’s hardest jobs: reviving the fortunes of the much bigger California Public Employees’ Retirement System.
Gilmore, a New Zealand-born economist and investment strategist who has spent most of his 40-year career abroad, will start at Calpers in July, becoming its fifth chief investment officer since 2009. The largest US pension system, with about $495 billion under management, is trying to snap a long spell of lackluster returns. It conducted a months-long global search for a new CIO before picking Gilmore. His predecessor left Calpers in September after just 18 months on the job.
As CIO of New Zealand’s Superannuation Fund since 2019, Gilmore helped the government entity nearly double in size to about NZ$72 billion ($43 billion). The fund reported an average annual return of 9.27% over the last five years through February, exceeding its benchmark by 1.29 percentage points.
Its portfolio is largely comprised of global equities and debt securities, and also invests in alternatives, rural and timber assets, local stocks, private equity, infrastructure and property. The majority of the fund is managed passively, in line with global stock and bond indexes. “Active investing is difficult and is not worth doing in many markets,” it says on its website, adding that it has been selective in this regard.
The NZ Super Fund was the best performing sovereign investor for the 2013 to 2022 fiscal years based on its 12.1% annualized return for the period, according to Global SWF, a consulting firm that tracks sovereign wealth funds and public pension funds. The Canada Pension Plan
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