TIAA has selected a new chief investment officer to manage its $297 billion general account, following Nick Liolis’s decision to leave the organization.
The insurance and investment behemoth announced Tuesday that Emilia (Emily) Wiener, previously head of fixed income at TIAA for eight years, will assume the role on January 15. Liolis, meanwhile, is heading to the Guardian Life Insurance Company of America, where he will serve as CIO starting January 23.
“We’re excited to have Nick join Guardian as our chief investment officer,” Guardian CEO Andrew McMahon said in a statement. “With his extensive investment expertise, risk management discipline, and leadership capabilities, I am confident that he’s the right leader to help deliver competitive dividends and financial security for Guardian’s policyholders.”
Wen-Fu Wu will succeed Wiener as head of fixed income at TIAA, and he will also become deputy CIO at the organization, where he has served in asset allocation roles for the past ten years.
In her new role, Wiener will be responsible for investment policy and strategy, asset allocation, and public and private fixed income, private equity, real estate, and real asset risk-adjusted targets, according to the announcement.
“Every step in Emily’s three-decade career has increased her investment management acumen and responsibility, ensuring she is supremely well suited for the CIO role,” said Dave Dowrich, TIAA’s Chief Financial Officer, in a statement. “She is an extremely accomplished investor with extensive expertise managing insurance company assets and is already a well-respected leader and colleague at TIAA.”
Prior to joining TIAA, Wiener led fixed-income portfolio management at AXA Equitable Life Insurance Company. She joined soon after Liolis, who left his role as managing director and CIO at AXA in 2015 for TIAA. He had spent 20 years at AXA, holding roles such as head of hedge fund investments, chief credit officer, deputy CIO, and CIO.
Wiener, meanwhile, joined AXA in 2010, having held previous leadership roles at Genworth Financial and AllianceBernstein.
In her new role at TIAA, Wiener will report to Dowrich and will be based in the firm’s New York office.
“With Emily and Wen-Fu assuming responsibility for the General Account that backs TIAA’s flagship lifetime-income solution, I am confident that our clients and our colleagues are in excellent hands,” he said in a statement.
