Largest US pension fund SIO resigns

Date: Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Author: Ruth Liew, Financial Standard

Christianna Wood, senior investment officer, global equity of US pension fund giant CalPERS, has jumped ship to take up the position of chief executive of hedge fund sponsor, Capital Z Asset Management.

Wood will leave CalPERS in mid-February, and Eric Baggesen, senior portfolio manager, will succeed her as acting senior investment officer, global equity.

Since joining CalPERS in October 2002, Wood has managed $168.7 billion in domestic and international public equities, including a $8.4 billion hedge fund portfolio and $7.9 billion in activist corporate governance funds.

During Wood’s tenure, the pension fund’s global equity unit added internal capabilities in domestic small cap, international and emerging markets and increased in-house staff management of equity capital. The unit also managed more than $5.6 billion in domestic enhanced indexed and other strategies.

CalPERS is the largest US public pension fund with assets totaling more than $237 billion. The fund provides retirement and health benefits to more than 1.5 million state and local public employees and their families.