NewsmakersNovember 21, 2025

HESTA’s Dianne Sandoval Named CIO of Maryland SRPS

The superannuation executive will succeed retired Chief Investment Officer Andrew Palmer at the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System.

Reported by Matt Toledo

Dianne Sandoval

The Maryland State Retirement and Pension System announced on Friday the appointment of Dianne Sandoval as CIO of the $76.4 billion plan, effective in January 2026.

Sandoval will succeed Andrew Palmer, who retired after serving as CIO from 2015 until June. Palmer was presented with CIO’s 2025 Lifetime Achievement Award in October. In the interim, former Deputy CIO Robert Burd has been serving as acting CIO.

Sandoval, currently the head of solutions design at HESTA [Health Employees Superannuation Trust Australia], the $100 billion Australian superannuation fund for more than 1 million health and community service employees, has experience spanning London; Melbourne, Australia; Mexico City; New York; Riyadh, Saudi Arabia; and Sacramento, California.

As CIO of Maryland SRPS, Sandoval will oversee the pension fund’s investments and will be responsible for leading the fund’s investment team and developing and implementing investment strategies, according to a statement from SRPS.

“I am honored to join the Maryland State Retirement and Pension System as its next Chief Investment Officer,” Sandoval said in a statement. “I am deeply committed to leveraging my global experience and expertise to drive innovative, resilient investment strategies that deliver exceptional outcomes for its members.”

SRPS manages the retirement benefits of more than 175,000 retirees and beneficiaries, as well as the future benefits of more than 250,000 active and former members, including state and local government employees, law enforcement, teachers and firefighters.

As of the end of the second quarter, SRPS allocated 32.3% of its assets to public equity, 20.5% to private equity, 16.2% to rate sensitive assets, 14.7% to real assets, 9.1% to credit, 5.5% to absolute return strategies, 1.4% to cash and 0.4% to multi-asset strategies.

Before joining HESTA in 2023, Sandoval was the head of markets, asset classes and portfolio strategy at the Public Investment Fund of Saudi Arabia, leading the sovereign fund’s strategic and dynamic asset allocation processes. She also spent 12 years at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, holding roles such as asset allocation and risk management investment manager and portfolio manager.

Sandoval also held credit trading roles at CalPERS and Morgan Stanley. In her prior institutional roles, Sandoval was a proponent of total portfolio approach. She earned a bachelor of science degree from the University of California at Berkeley and an MBA from the IESE Business School, part of the University of Navarra, in Barcelona, Spain.