PBGC Turns to MD's Greenberg as CIO

A Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation Director (PBGC) news release said John F. Greenberg comes to the PBGC after 12 years at the state pension agency where he was involved in various aspects of portfolio oversight.

Greenberg was most recently a managing director for public markets, which meant he was responsible for all public market investments by Maryland’s retirement and pension system, including all exchange-traded investments such as fixed income, equity, and publicly-traded real estate.

According to the news release, the chief investment officer, a new addition to the PBGC’s senior staff, will oversee the agency’s investment portfolio with assets of $55 billion and will be responsible for the PBGC’s new investment strategy.

Additionally, the CIO will take the lead in forecasting changes in volume, fund mixes, and scheduled maturities of investments and will supervise the agency’s investment managers.

Greenberg earned an MBA from Syracuse University and a BA from Connecticut College. He is a chartered financial analyst.

In February, the agency announced a new investment policy that will allocate 45% of its assets to a diversified set of fixed-income investments, 45% to diversified equity investments, 5% to real estate, and 5% to private equity (See PBGC Makes Big Shift to Stocks, Alternatives ). The Government Accountability Office (GAO) recently expressed some concern about the move (See GAO: PBGC Investment Policy May be Riskier than First Thought ).

The agency’s previous policy set an equity investment target of 15%-25%, although the actual level of equity investments was 28% at the end of FY 2007.