News & Analysis

CalPERS names head of manager engagement

Former Ford Foundation director Clinton Stevenson will oversee the division which works across asset classes.

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California Public Employees’ Retirement System, the US’s largest public pension, has appointed Clinton Stevenson as investment director of investment management engagement programs (IMEP), according to a statement.

IMEP, previously known as targeted investment programs, provides total fund coordination across all asset classes, in the areas of emerging and transition managers, responsible contracting, California investment initiatives and diversity and inclusion efforts, according to CalPERS’ website.

IMEP is also responsible for external manager monitoring and evaluation processes.

Stevenson is listed as chief investment officer at the Clinton Group, which advises boards and executives of non-profit institutions on the structure, management and governance of their investment programmes, according to his LinkedIn profile.

Prior to founding the Clinton Group, Stevenson spent 30 years at the Ford Foundation as a director, helping to set the overall investment strategy.

In the statement, CalPERS chief investment officer Ted Eliopoulos said manager evaluations, investment operations, and diversity and inclusion “are all important components of our investment office”.

According to the latest available update on CalPERS’ website, as at 30 June 2015 the pension fund was working with 119 external private equity managers and 723 external investment vehicles. CalPERS had 68 relationships with emerging managers, and was invested in 259 emerging manager investment vehicles, equating to 36 percent of its total external investment vehicles.

CalPERS is also searching for a chief financial officer to replace Cheryl Eason, who left on 10 February, and has hired recruiting firm Heidrick & Struggles in New York, as reported by Private Equity International.

CalPERS chief compliance officer Marlene Timberlake D’Adamo is serving as the interim CFO, according to the pension’s website. D’Adamo was initially hired as chief compliance officer in March 2016 to work directly under Eason to administer a compliance monitoring and oversight programme, according to a CalPERS press release at the time.