Calpers Hires Meng as Investment Chief to Run $360 Billion

(Bloomberg) -- The California Public Employees’ Retirement System named Yu Ben Meng, a former portfolio manager with the largest U.S. pension, as its next chief investment officer.

Meng, 48, is returning to Calpers, which manages about $360 billion, after serving as the deputy CIO at China’s State Administration of Foreign Exchange for the past three years, according to a statement by the Sacramento-based pension system on Monday.

“During his time with Calpers, Ben acquired a deep understanding of the asset and liability management process that has become so important to achieving our goals,” Chief Executive Officer Marcie Frost said in the statement. “He knows the complexities of our system and can hit the ground running.”

Meng, a native of China who became a naturalized U.S. citizen, worked at Calpers for seven years with his last role as the investment director of asset allocation. He also was a fixed-income portfolio manager.

“He’s a really smart guy,” JJ Jelincic, a former board member who worked with Meng in the Calpers investment office, said in an interview last week. “He’d be an excellent choice.”

Outgoing CIO Ted Eliopoulos announced in May that he plans to leave by the end of this year to relocate to New York. Recruiting firm Korn Ferry helped run the executive search.

Previously: Calpers CIO Eliopoulos to Leave Biggest U.S. Pension Fund

To contact the reporter on this story: John Gittelsohn in Los Angeles at johngitt@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Margaret Collins at mcollins45@bloomberg.net, Josh Friedman, Vincent Bielski

©2018 Bloomberg L.P.