Deals and People September 19, 2003

WA Pension Officials Tap New Board Heads

September 19, 2003 (PLANSPONSOR.com) - State of Washington's pension officials have tapped a retired union officer and a firefighter as their new chairman and vice chairman, respectively.
Reported by

Taking over the top spot at the Washington State Investment Board, which oversees about $39 billion of public pension assets, was George Masten, while Patrick McElligott, was named vice chairman, according to Bloomberg News.

Masten, former executive director of the Washington Federation of State Employees, has been interim vice chairman of the 15-member board since June, after the retirement of teacher Lee Ann Prielipp. Masten takes over from John Charles, director of the state Department of Retirement Systems, who is retiring.

Masten is currently chairman of the fund’s private markets committee, which oversees its holdings in buyout and venture capital firms. Masten represents retired employees, and McElligott represents working law enforcement officers and firefighters.

Both Masten and McElligott were governor appointees. Masten was reappointed to a three-year term in January 2002. McElligott was reappointed in January 2001; his current three-year term expires at the end of December.

«