The industry’s top allocators gathered at New York’s Mandarin Oriental on Thursday to celebrate the chief investment officers and teams who provided exceptional leadership during uncertain times at Institutional Investor’s 2025 Allocators’ Choice Awards.
Winners were selected by peer vote after finalists — vetted by II’s editorial staff with guidance from its advisory board — were chosen from a pool of industry nominations and the publication’s own research.
This year’s honorees guided their institutions through a uniquely challenging period of trade wars, historic market volatility, and shifting global dynamics. They thrived through bold resets (exemplified by Anne Dinneen’s repositioning at NewYork-Presbyterian), disciplined risk aversion (such as Joseph Eppers’s fixed income focus at Selective), and major turnarounds (like Anton Orlich’s revival of CalPERS’s private equity program).
NYP’s Anne Dinneen was awarded Health Care System CIO of the Year after orchestrating one of the most impressive transformations in the sector. After taking over a program in the bottom quartile, she executed a $2 billion secondary sale at the mid-2022 market bottom to generate enough liquidity to overhaul the investment office and portfolio strategy, driving nearly $10 billion in new activity and a FY25 return above 14 percent — putting NYP into the top 5 percent of its peers.
Dave Morehead was voted Endowment/Foundation CIO of the Year for his innovative leadership, which has positioned Baylor’s endowment among the nation’s elite with a five-year track record rivaling Ivy League returns. His highly differentiated, top-down approach targets public equity opportunities in supply-constrained markets — from the power behind data centers and distressed U.S. malls to high-end marinas — to capitalize on short-term inefficiencies for major gains.
Anton Orlich received the Award for Leadership and Vision for a historic turnaround of CalPERS’s $90 billion private equity program. His strategic commitments in the 2023 and 2024 vintages helped deliver the program’s first top-quartile returns in its 35-year history, reversing hundreds of basis points in past underperformance.
Joseph Eppers was named Insurance Company CIO of the Year for a masterclass in disciplined, risk-averse execution. His strategy of maintaining a significant underweight to public risk assets — allocating roughly 10 percent versus an industry average of 20 percent — and leveraging high-quality fixed income has paid off for Selective while keeping risk in check. “You’re getting paid pretty well to be in fixed income,” Eppers told II. “So why do I need to take risk or go down in quality or duration?”
GE Investment Management’s Harshal Chaudhari was recognized as Corporate Pension Plan CIO of the Year for his steady leadership of one of the nation’s largest and most complex corporate pension portfolios, guiding it through a period of significant market uncertainty. Meanwhile, Heinz Family Office chief McCall Cravens was named Family Office Investor of the Year for her skilled management of a sophisticated multigenerational wealth portfolio at one of the country’s most prominent family offices.
Andy Greene, investment chief for the Toronto Transit Commission Pension Plan, took home the Public Pension CIO of the Year award. Since joining the C$9.2 billion Canadian plan as its first investment hire in 2017, Greene has delivered strong risk-adjusted returns by strategically increasing exposure to private assets, successfully navigating turbulent markets while maintaining full funding. His collaborative leadership is evidenced by virtually no team turnover throughout his tenure.
The award for Allocator-Asset Manager Partnership of the Year went to the trio of UTIMCO, State of Wisconsin Investment Board, and Walleye Capital for forming Dockside Platforms, a pioneering collaboration that created unique co-investment opportunities through a structure similar to the “pod shop” model of multimanager hedge funds. The venture was celebrated as an example of how allocators and asset managers can partner to access compelling, high-conviction opportunities.
