After nearly 30 years at the Public Employee Retirement System of Idaho, chief investment officer Bob Maynard has announced his retirement.
Maynard, who joined PERSI as CIO in 1992, will be stepping down in September 2022. According to PERSI, the retirement board will start looking for a replacement “at the appropriate time.”
Maynard helped the system grow its assets from $2.1 billion to $24 billion as of August 2021. He is known for his stripped-down approach to investing pension assets, which avoids everything from hedge funds to in-house investing.
The CIO of Idaho’s public employee retirement fund is a finalist for Institutional Investor’s 2021 Allocators’ Choice Awards. Maynard is nominated in the category of Chief Investment Officer of the Year.
“His mantra of simple, transparent, focused, and patient, and steady influence helped the Fund navigate through tougher times, including the Great Recession of 2008-2009, which devastated many public retirement systems nationwide, but from which PERSI was quick to recover,” according to the announcement.
Maynard restructured the fund’s investing program in the 1990s. PERSI now uses a 70 percent equity, 30 percent fixed income asset mix and avoids popular strategies like risk parity or the endowment model.
For Maynard, 2021 is a good year to go out on: the pension posted its highest annual returns — 27.9 percent for the fiscal year — since 1983. Estimated funded status has hit 105 percent, according to PERSI’s fiscal year investment report from June 30.
“For thirty years, Bob has played an instrumental role in transforming PERSI into the strong and stable fund it currently is,” said Jeff Cilek, chairman of PERSI’s board. “Bob’s insight into the global economy and steady hand will be missed.”
Maynard has served on boards at the Idaho Community Foundation, Boise State University Foundation, University of Idaho Foundation, the Pacific Pension Institute, the College of Idaho, the Institute for Electronic and Electrical Engineers, and the National Association of State Investment Officers.
