Timothy Reese, CEO and CIO of the Pennsylvania Municipal Retirement System, was named the winner in the Public Defined Benefit <$25B category at the 2024 CIO Industry Innovation Awards dinner in December.

Reese was hired in 2021 and charged with modernizing the pension fund, which involved fixed a software implementation issue that crippled the agency’s ability to produce financial reports; with restoring confidence and creating a culture that improved the plan’s staffing and retention; and with supporting the fund’s assets under management by derisking the portfolio.

Reese led modernization efforts across the organization, such as prioritization of digital communications, which helped cut spending and enabled those savings to be redirected to other areas.

The move to digitalization has also enhanced the accuracy of the fund’s financial reporting. In January 2024, the fund completed its backlog of financial reporting. The fund also upgraded its website, and with the push to digital communications, participants could more easily access information and forms. The fund had previously relied solely on paper communications.

At the PMRS, Reese also established five guiding principles: increasing members’ understanding of retirement; strengthening relationships with Pennsylvania public employees and members; optimizing investment strategies; encouraging staff innovation; and promoting an inclusive and transparent organization.

Reese and the PMRS investment team also strategically de-risked and diversified the fund’s portfolio to ensure that its investments appropriately balance opportunity with risk.

According to Reese, it is crucial for CIOs to focus on their most valuable asset: their people. He heralds this approach, along with the PMRS’ guiding principles, as critical to the success of the fund.

Under Reese, who joined in 2020, assets of the plan rose 22%, to $3.41 billion in 2024 from $2.792 billion in fiscal 2019. The PMRS reported a funded status of 104.7% as of December 31, 2023. As of June 30, 2024, the plan reported one-, five- and 10-year performance of 9.5%, 6.9% and 6.8%, respectively.

The plan administers more than 1,060 pension plans and has more than 18,000 active and retired members, who are employees and retirees of local government and municipal employees, including police officers, firefighters, utility and crew workers, librarians, and other union and non-union municipal employees.

Reese was the Pennsylvania state treasurer between 2015 and 2017 and was founder and CEO of consulting firm Forge Intellectual Capital. Between 2017 and 2019, Reese was an investment banker at Quoin Capital.

Reese earned both an associate of science degree in electronics and a bachelor of science degree in electrical and electronics engineering from the Temple University College of Engineering.

—Matt Toledo