The official reason for the abrupt departure is family issues back home in Toronto. That aside, the
Bloomberg article mentions the difficulty recent CALPERS investment chiefs have had dealing with a sometimes obstinate, quarrelsome board of directors. Tenures have been brief in recent years.
Musicco had much success in running both public pensions and private investments in Canada before taking the CALPERS position in February, 2022. Her frequent absence from the office, related to commuting from Toronto, appeared to be one source of friction with co-workers. She emphasized direct investment over indirect ones through advisory firms to save on fees. Her attempts to buy professional sports teams was questioned by some at CALPERS. As the largest public pension fund in the country, CALPERS is seriously underfunded and needs to make up lost ground. Recent performance has been “underwhelming.”
Decent article from Yahoo:
https://finance.yahoo.com/news/resigning-calpers-cio-led-private-050000716.html”Calpers appointed Musicco to CIO in February 2022, during a period in which the pension fund set its focus on growing its exposure to the private markets. In late 2021, it had adopted an asset allocation plan to increase its PE investments from 8% to 13% and added a private debt allocation of 5%. Musicco brought private market investment expertise into her new role at Calpers, joining the fund from RedBird Capital Partners as head of the firm's Canadian unit. Prior to that, Musicco managed the private markets investment program at the Investment Management Corporation of Ontario and spent 16 years at the Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, where she led both the PE and public equity teams.” (Credit to Yahoo Finance)
Excellent in-depth piece from Bloomberg (if you subscribe or can otherwise find a way to access):
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2023-09-18/biggest-us-pension-s-investment-boss-pushed-sports-deals-before-calling-it-quits”Musicco’s attempt to import the so-called Canadian investment model, which emphasizes direct investments to reduce the fees paid to outside managers, didn’t sit well with key investing staff at Calpers, because there was no clear path communicated on how to do it, according to people close to the pension who were not authorized to speak publicly.” (Credit to Bloomberg)
Comments
1) Decide to invest DIRECTLY, rather than INDIRECTLY.
2) DO it!
(What sort of connection or vested interest are the Board members busy protecting?)