“Kevin Liu is a senior member of the New York City Mayor’s Office of Pensions and Investments, which the New York City Comptroller’s Office supports. As head of New York City’s Bureau of Asset Management and CIO for their five public NYC pension plans, I work closely with Kevin in his role as an independent trustee for several of these plans. Kevin is professional, well-informed and insightful in his investment thinking in discharging his significant responsibilities as an independent trustee. He has deep expertise across global public and private asset classes, strategies and structures, and is impactful in the management of more than $255 billion in combined plan assets.”
—Steven R. Meier, CFA, Deputy Comptroller-Asset Management & CIO, Office of New York City Comptroller Brad S. Lander
The CIO Editorial Team shared a dozen questions with all our NextGen nominees and asked them each to pick six to answer. Their answers informed our decision to include them as a NextGen. Below are the answers from Kevin Liu.
CIO: How are you dealing with rising interest rates and economic uncertainty?
Liu: Stay open-minded and be decisive. It’s all about making the right call at the end of day, although no one is perfect, nor do they have the crystal ball, but being indecisive can lead to time being wasted, and time is one of the most valuable assets as an asset allocator.
CIO: What is the best way to bring more diversity to the financial industry?
Liu: Based on my experience, I would say: Ditch the resume. Often the resumes are being screened by computer and/or software to eliminate unqualified candidates. But how can one be so sure those candidates who are eliminated are truly unqualified? I think perhaps re-evaluate the hiring process not only to ditch the resume, but also to look outside of the financial industry and welcome diverse and unique talent that otherwise might not have made it through the first round of interviewing process.
CIO: What roles do AI and large language models have in the future of institutional investing?
Liu: I think AI and large language models will have major roles in the future of institutional investing. They can certainly facilitate the investment process in a thorough and meaningful way, since a considerable amount of data and analysis goes into building an effective investment strategy. AI and large language models will be able to have the roles in risk assessment, trading, automation, portfolio management, predictive modeling and more. The sky is the limit (not just with AI, but technology in general), but with that said, AI and large language will need to be monitored and regulated under strict guidelines.
CIO: What traditional and/or alternative asset classes do you think are most important for institutional investors, and why?
Liu: Equites. Although equities are generally considered as one of the riskiest classes of assets, dividends aside, they offer no guarantees. But I think they remain most important for institutional investors, especially for long-term investors, because they are still the best way to grow capital and, with a focus on quality companies, can help buffer against the effects of inflation.
CIO: What asset class or investment troubles you most right now, and why?
Liu: Meme stocks. I am skeptical of the value created through social sentiment on social media platforms, if anything. These meme stocks are often volatile and can experience sharp price swings, as we have seen in past events such as GME, AMC and BBB. They tend to receive value from their trending popularity on social media, although those online communities can dedicate heavy research and resources toward a particular stock. I personally am just not ready for it yet.
CIO: What new skills do you think allocators need to be leaders in the field in the coming decade?
Liu: Hybrid skills and stay curious. Let me start with the first one: hybrid skills. Being able to foster hybrid skills is going to be needed for allocators to be leaders in the coming decade. A leader with hybrid skills is someone who has developed the skills of pro-active communication, inclusion, flexibility and emotional intelligence. I am a firm believer that our field (asset allocators/investment industry) is also people business. A leader needs not only hard skills, but also soft skills, because we network, collaborate and exchange ideas with one another to help promote the integrity of the financial markets and fulfill our fiduciary duties and due diligences. Secondly, although staying curious is not a skill, per se, I think it’s worth mentioning. From my personal experience, I have seen folks lose their curiosity. Simply, they have reached a career level they wanted or they became comfortable where they are in life. In another words, they stop thriving.
