By David G Barry
The Oregon
State Treasury has brought aboard a long-term member of the California
State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) investment team to fill a role that
it describes as “fundamental to our role as a fiduciary and asset manager.”
Philip Larrieu joined the Treasury as stewardship investment officer. He
was with CalSTRS for 17 years, most recently as an associate portfolio manager.
Larrieu did not immediately return a message from Markets Group on his move.
The Oregon State Treasurer – currently Tobias Read – oversaw $139
billion in assets under management, as of December 31. The majority of that
capital – $100 billion is in the Oregon Public Employees Retirement System
(PERS).
According to a job posting for the stewardship investment officer role, the
position assists in the administration of a multi-billion-dollar program that is
focused on maximizing Oregon’s public equity holdings through corporate
engagement. The person in the role is involved in directly contacting corporate
boards and partnering with external investment managers and stakeholders.
Among
the expected duties is outreach to investment managers, identifying and putting
into action strategies to improve governance of portfolio holdings. Through
proxy voting, written campaigns and various other means, the stewardship
investment officer is focused on protecting shareholder rights and encouraging
independent boards to truly represent the interests of shareholders.
As an associate portfolio manager at CalSTRS, Larrieu, according to his
LinkedIn profile, monitored and reviewed the portfolio and performance of
external activist managers in the system’s corporate governance/sustainable
investment and stewardship strategies program.
Additionally,
he identified, recommended and negotiated contracts with investment managers,
engaged companies on corporate governance or performance issues and evaluated
and engaged companies with exposure to geopolitical issues. Larrieu also
monitored the voting of more than 7,000 proxies a year and performed research
and analysis on proxy issues.