The Missouri State Employees Retirement System has promoted its interim chief investment officer to the post permanently.
Shannon Davidson, who became interim chief in December, will now serve as both CIO and deputy executive director, according to an email from a system spokesperson.
Davidson previously worked as the manager of investment risk and operations, his LinkedIn profile shows.
MOSERS’ former CIO Seth Kelly stepped down in December, the spokesperson confirmed. She declined to comment on the reason for his resignation. Kelly did not respond to a message on LinkedIn Tuesday.
The $8.1 billion pension fund posted a time-weighted return of 4.3 percent for the fiscal year 2019, according to its annual report published October 2019. The policy benchmark returned 2.5 percent for the year.
MOSERS began implementing a new investment strategy in 2019, according to its website. That strategy includes revamping asset allocation to add detail and asset classes.
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The new plan brings in private credit, private and public real assets, private equity, hedge funds, and a more nuanced bond investing approach, the website shows.
According to the website, as of December 31, 2019, MOSERS was about a third of the way through its transition process. The retirement system expects to complete the transition by the end of 2021.
