New Jersey’s $78 billion retirement system is in the market to hire a portfolio manager for its public equities program.
The Newark-based public fund manages its entire $35.7 billion stock portfolio in-house, outsourcing only alternatives and global credit mandates. Stocks represented 46% of its total assets as of the end of February.
The New Jersey fund has earned accolades for its early, innovative partnerships with alternatives firms and consistently outperformed
its benchmark.
The position’s responsibilities include “monitoring existing portfolio investments and identifying new opportunities for inclusion in the portfolio within specific industry groups,” according to the job posting.
To qualify, candidates must have spent at least four years “engaged in investment management and research with primary accountability and authority for the management of at least $50 million.”
A CFA and strong track record are preferred.
The New Jersey fund has earned accolades for its early, innovative partnerships with alternatives firms and consistently outperformed its benchmark. It closed last fiscal year with 16.72% returns and nearly 100 basis points of alpha, and posted three-year gains of 10.13% versus the benchmark’s 8.81%.
Retaining investment staff, however, has proven to be a problem. Over the past several years, a series of well-respected leaders have departed for private sector positions, all citing compensation as the primary reason for leaving.
While the portfolio manager posting stated that “salary is commensurate with education and work experience,” New Jersey lawmakers control all state employee salary and benefit packages.
The fund’s head of international equity, for example, earned $116,342.86 in 2014 and is on track to make the same this year, according to public records. Pension fund chief and former Forty Under Forty member Chris McDonough is the treasury department’s highest paid employee at $185,000.
Interested? Applications for the portfolio manager position are open until June 8.
Source: New Jersey Department of the Treasury, Division of Investment
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