CalPERS Private Equity Chief Quits

Rick Hayes, an advocate for public limited partners, on Tuesday tendered his resignation as head of private equity investments for CalPERS to become a managing partner at Oak Hill Capital Management.

Hayes could not be reached for comment Thursday, but a spokesman for CalPERS, the nation’s largest pension fund, confirmed that Hayes had resigned as senior investment officer for the CalPERS Alternative Investment Management Program.

As part of his move to Oak Hill Hayes is expected to be named president and CEO of an unnamed business in Sacramento, Calif., the spokesman said.

Hayes will continue managing CalPERS’ $20 billion private equity portfolio until he begins work at Oak Hill in the first week of July.

Hayes joined CalPERS in 1998. In 2000, he was elected chairman of the Institutional Limited Partners Association (ILPA). As head of ILPA, he ruffled feathers in 2002 by advocating that VCs adopt a cash in/cash out standard for calculating private equity returns. 

Email Lawrence.Aragon@thomson.com