Illinois Teachers’ Head of PE Steps Down

Email attempts to reach Doehla were not answered, and at deadline, it was not apparent whether Doehla left for a position at another organization.

Doehla oversaw $4.4 billion in private equity assets, amounting to roughly 11 percent of the pension’s overall portfolio, as of March 31, 2013. Illinois Teachers’ has a 12 percent private equity target, which has been raised sharply from an 8 percent target over the past four years.  

Urbanek said the pension did not know yet who would replace Doehla, but one source close to the pension said Jerry Quandt, an investment analyst for alternatives, has begun overseeing private equity investments on an interim basis until a permanent replacement is named. Attempts to reach Quandt were not successful.

Urbanek said the pension was in the early stages of searching for a replacement.

Doehla came to Illinois Teachers’ in 2009, when he replaced Lamar Villiere, who moved to the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System to be its director of private equity.  Villiere himself just left the Tennessee pension in April to join his family’s asset management firm, Villiere & Co.