Institutional Investor is proud to recognize leaders within the allocator community for their outstanding contributions to portfolio development at the second annual AlphaEdge Recognition Dinner. Prior to the event, we sat down with Anastasia Titarchuk, recognized in the category of Most Influential Women in Investment Management.
Anastasia has been with New York State Common Retirement Fund for 13 years. It is the third-largest public pension fund in the country. Anastasia started out in the hedge fund portfolio eventually being promoted to first Deputy Chief Investment Officer and then to Chief Investment Officer. She has been in the role for 6 years making her one of the longest tenured CIO of the largest funds!
An alumnus of Yale, Anastasia graduated summa cum laude with a degree in Applied Mathematics. She entered the investment management industry at JPMorgan Chase where she focused primarily on equity derivatives. Prior to joining the Fund, she also worked in a variety of leadership roles at Bank of America, Barclays Capital and Lehman Brothers.
In addition to her role at New York State Common Retirement Fund, which has $256 billion in assets under management, she is a current Member of Investor Advisory Committee on Financial Markets for the Federal Reserve Bank of New York – and a member of the Treasury Borrowing Advisory Committee (TBAC).
The following has been edited for length and clarity.
What is the biggest challenge facing the industry today?
Given that I work for the public fund, and we provide retirement security for more than 1 million pension recipients, the most important thing in the U.S. is there are many public pension funds that are not fully funded; I think that’s a challenge (We are almost 100% funded).
The public benefit is fantastic, but it needs to be funded, and therefore, all our jobs on the public side are very important.
Which part of the portfolio are you most excited about?
I am excited about all parts of my portfolio. I have no favorites.
Who are your mentors, and what got you into the industry?
I’ve had a lot of good mentors on the sell side on the trading desk. Most recently, I was hired by a woman CIO and promoted by a woman CIO, so those would be my most influential mentors on the asset manager side.
I first went into finance because of my older sister. After years on the trading side and after going through the Lehman bankruptcy, I decided I needed a change, so I transitioned to the asset management side. Another mentor, a former boss at Lehman/Barclays introduced me to New York Common.
When were you at Lehman Barclays?
From 2006 to 2009.
If you weren’t in investment management, what would you be doing?
I’d like to run a company making “widgets” – something pretty routine that other people might not be excited about.
What is the one thing you’d like to change in the industry?
I think the industry could benefit from more transparency, especially on the private side. At times, it’s a difficult landscape to navigate.
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