CalPERS Names New Chief Risk Officer

March 1, 2011 (PLANSPONSOR.com) – The nation’s largest public pension plan now has a Chief Risk Officer.

 

The position is a new one at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), though Larry Jensen, named to the post, has been Interim Chief Risk Officer since October 1, 2010, when he was appointed to head the new Office of Enterprise Risk Management and to independently assess risk for CalPERS.  Jensen oversees four primary functions: Enterprise Risk Management, Enterprise Compliance, Enterprise Privacy and Security, and Business Continuity/Disaster Recovery.

CalPERS said the position was created to improve the pension fund’s overall risk management program.

As Chief Risk Officer, Jensen will serve as an independent adviser and consultant to the Board’s Ad Hoc Risk Committee. He will oversee risk intelligence gathering to support decision-making and help evaluate executives’ risk management performance, according to the announcement.

Prior to his interim appointment last year, Jensen served as the Assistant Executive Officer for the Administrative Services Branch since January 2010. He joined the CalPERS Office of Audit Services in June 1995 and became Chief Auditor in 2002.

 “Larry Jensen has done an excellent job in his interim role,” said CalPERS Chief Executive Officer Anne Stausboll. “He’s very familiar with CalPERS operations and has extensive experience in evaluating administrative and fiscal operations, pension, health and investment programs.”

Jensen reports to Steve Kessler, Deputy Executive Officer for Operations; Chief Executive Officer Anne Stausboll; and the CalPERS Board.

CalPERS, the nation’s largest public pension fund with approximately $229 billion in assets, administers retirement benefits for more than 1.6 million active and retired State, public school and local public employees and their families.

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