London Calling: CalPERS CIO Goes To U.K.

One of the constants of public life is the allure of the private sector. Even at the top of the public pension world, the call to move on remains. And so it is in California.

The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) Chief Investment Officer Mark Anson announced last week that he was leaving the pension system to become the CEO of London-based fund manger Hermes.

Anson’s last day at CalPERS will be Jan. 12. The pension system’s board of directors will discuss how to replace him at their next board meeting, scheduled for November.

Anson joined CalPERS in 1999 as an investment officer in its domestic equities program and became the group’s senior investment officer nine months later. He was named CalPERS CIO in December 2001. The CIO works closely with the board to set investment strategy, establish the fund’s asset allocation and oversee the fund’s external managers.

Since 2001, Anson has managed a 200-person investment staff and a fund that grew from $127 billion to $196 billion. He launched investment programs in hedge funds, oversaw the pension system’s environmental investment program and added more than $8 billion in excess returns.

In a statement released by the pension fund, CalPERS says that Anson was instrumental in advancing the cause of corporate governance and strengthened the cause of transparency and corporate responsibility.

London-based Hermes is a fund manager that serves the British Telecom Pension Fund and other endowments, insurance companies and pension funds.

Anson earned a law degree from the Northwestern University School of Law in Chicago, where he was the production editor of the Law Review. He received his Ph.D. and masters in finance from the Columbia University Graduate School of Business in New York. Anson has also authored three books on the financial markets and has written more than 40 trade publication articles on the topics of risk management, alternative assets and portfolio management.

CalPERS has about $196 billion under management and about $9.4 billion in alternative investments and private equity. It is a limited partner in funds managed by such firms as Austin Ventures, Blackstone Group, The Carlyle Group, Coller Capital, Lexington Partners and U.S. Venture Partners.