LACERA hiring investment officer to oversee secondaries, co-investments

Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association is looking for a senior investment officer to manage co-investments, secondaries and other alternative private equity strategies, its recent meeting materials show.

It’s unclear whether this is a new position. Last month, Buyouts reported LACERA was exploring the possibility of bringing its co-investment program in-house.

The retirement association recently re-upped a $100 million commitment with Morgan Stanley to manage its existing co-investment platform, which was outperforming its core PE portfolio as of mid-2017.

Concurrent with its personnel search, LACERA has issued a request for proposals for an adviser to help it manage the sale of as much as $1.4 billion of its PE program. The association hasn’t concluded which of its fund stakes would be put up for sale.

The retirement association did not immediately return a request for comment.

LACERA’s senior investment officers are typically responsible for developing and recommending investments, monitoring fund managers and implementing plans that were approved by the board, the LACERA’s careers page says.

The retirement system’s website says senior investment officers are eligible for a monthly salary ranging $17,300 to $26,200.

Senior investment officers are supervised by the association’s principal investment officers. Chris Wagner is the principal investment officer who oversees LACERA’s PE program.

LACERA’s PE program is valued at roughly $5.3 billion, an investment report in recent meeting materials says. The $56.8 billion retirement association held 9.3 percent of its assets in private equity, less than a percentage point off its 10 percent target allocation.

Action Item: For more on LACERA, visit www.lacera.com

Ships gather off the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, California, in this aerial photo taken Feb. 6, 2015. REUTERS/Bob Riha Jr.