By David G.
Barry
The Police
& Fire Retirement System of the City of Detroit (PFRS) is seeking its
own chief investment officer – a move that comes some three months after the
death of former CIO Ryan Bigelow. As CIO of the Retirement System of the
City of Detroit (RSCD), Bigelow managed the assets of both of its two
retirement systems: the $3 billion PFRS and the $2 billion General
Retirement System.
Bruce Babiarz, a PFRS spokesman, said the PFRS board has decided to bring
aboard its own CIO. It does not have a specific timeframe but is focused on finding
the “most qualified person,” he said. The PFRS board has posted
the job but has not hired an executive search firm, Babiarz said.
The General Retirement System board, meanwhile, has not made a decision on
whether it will seek a permanent CIO. Kevin Kenneally, who is managing
principal of KJK Associates, LLC, is serving as interim CIO of RSCD and is thus
overseeing both pension plans. He served as deputy CIO of RSCD between January
2018 and December 2019. Previously, he was deputy CIO of DTE Energy.
Both systems feature a defined benefit component and a defined contribution
benefit. The City of Detroit was given a 10-year reprieve from making payments
to the two pension plans as a result of its 2014 bankruptcy.
Bigelow, a father of eight, died
on March 18 of cancer. He had joined RSCD in 2011 after serving as an
investment officer for the State of Alaska.