San Diego County Hires CIO | Chief Investment Officer

Stephen Sexauer, former CIO of Allianz’s US multi-asset team, will lead the $10.6 billion portfolio as the fund moves away from OCIO Salient Partners.

Stephen Sexauer, SDCERAThe San Diego County Employees Retirement Association (SDCERA) has hired Stephen Sexauer as its investment chief as the fund continues to transition from an outsourced-CIO (OCIO).

Sexauer, who previously served as CIO of US multi-asset team at Allianz Global Investors, will begin his new post on May 29.

According to the $10.6 billion public pension fund, Sexauer will be tasked with overseeing SDCERA’s investment strategy for public and private investments, as well as managing its investment team and consultants.

He will also assist the board with reviewing and formulating the fund’s investment policies, strategy, and asset allocation. Furthermore, he will “coordinate the transition of responsibilities” from OCIO Salient Partners, the fund said.

“Steve’s keen grasp of global financial markets and his direct experience managing large multi-asset portfolios stood out during the interview process,” said Skip Murphy, chair of the board of retirement. “SDCERA’s leadership team is taking shape, and the board is eager to move forward on reviewing SDCERA’s asset allocation and investment policies.

Prior to his tenure at Allianz managing $7 billion in multi-asset portfolios, Sexauer worked as a portfolio manager at Morgan Stanley. He also served as vice president at Salomon Brothers in charge of sales and trading training program and quantitative sales.

Sexauer holds an MBA from the University of Chicago and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Salient added it has been an honor to serve SDCERA as an OCIO for the last five and a half years, “during which time the pension generated a net annualized return of 9.42% and gains of $4.27 billion for plan members.”