CalPERS hires new chief executive

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) has hired Marcie Frost as the pension fund’s new chief executive, according to a statement from the pension fund.

Frost is a 16-year veteran of the pension industry and most recently served as the executive director of the Washington State Department of Retirement Systems. She also served as acting private markets committee chair at the Washington State Investment Board.

CalPERS, which has $299.38 billion in assets under management, has a 10 percent target allocation to private equity, as of June 2016, according to PEI Research and Analytics.

Frost will start her new role with CalPERS on 3 October. CalPERS’s previous CEO, Anne Stausboll, retired at the end of June after seven years in the executive position, while Doug Hoffner has been serving as interim CEO since 1 July, PEI reported.

In her role as CEO, Frost will oversee the pension fund’s operations, which include 2,870 employees, a budget of more than $1.7 billion, and programmes spanning retirement benefits administration, investments, finance and risk management, actuarial services and stakeholder relations, among other responsibilities.

“The selection of Marcie was unanimous by the CalPERS board members involved,” said Rob Feckner, president of the CalPERS board, in the statement.

Frost joined DRS in 2000 and held leadership roles in human resources, information services and operations. She was deputy director for the retirement systems for four years before being appointed executive director in 2013.

She began her public service career as a benefits administrator with the Washington State Department of Labor and Industries, managing compensation and benefit programs for public employees across 26 locations, according to the statement.