Firms & Funds

New Mexico PERA’s Jude Perez departs for LACERA

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New Mexico PERA, Jude Perez, LACERA, private equity, pension fund
Lacera's Jude Perez. Photo courtesy of the system.
  • Perez joins LACERA
  • Was deputy CIO at New Mexico PERA
  • Second investment exec to join LACERA from NM PERA

Jude Perez has joined Los Angeles County Employees Retirement Association as a principal investment officer. He had been deputy chief investment officer at the more than $15 billion New Mexico Public Employees Retirement Association, his LinkedIn profile shows.

Perez follows Jonathan Grabel, the erstwhile CIO of New Mexico PERA, to LACERA. Grabel joined the $56.8 billion LACERA as CIO in April 2017.

“Jude Perez joined LACERA in February as the principal investment officer for portfolio analytics,” Grabel told Buyouts via email.  “It is a new position with responsibilities associated with cross- asset category functions including risk management, performance reporting, corporate governance and asset allocation.”

Perez stepped up as interim CIO at New Mexico PERA for six months after Grabel left.

Grabel’s successor is Dominic Garcia, who became CIO in October 2017.

Perez was at New Mexico PERA for almost eight years. He started as an investment officer in the private equity portfolio and later became a portfolio manager across asset classes.

He began his career as a land associate with KB Homes. Before joining New Mexico PERA, Perez was an entrepreneur and owned an Albuquerque, New Mexico, specialty store that sold snowboards, skateboards, apparel and other ski essentials.

Perez has an MBA from the Robert O. Anderson School of Management at the University of New Mexico and a BA in philosophy from the University of Nevada-Las Vegas.