The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (Calpers) has expanded the responsibilities of private equity chief Anton Orlich following a notable improvement in PE portfolio investment performance since his appointment, according to a report by the Wall Street bJournal.
The pension fund has promoted Orlich to deputy chief investment officer for private markets, broadening his remit beyond private equity to include real assets and private credit. He replaces outgoing executive Daniel Booth and will now oversee a combined alternatives portfolio spanning well over $100bn.
The move comes after a turnaround in Calpers’ private equity portfolio, which returned about 22% in the year through 31 March, according to internal presentations cited by the fund. Over a three-year period, the revamped strategy has generated annualised returns of roughly 21%, significantly outperforming its previous approach.
Since taking over in 2022, Orlich has shifted the programme toward smaller growth and venture investments, increased use of co-investments, and greater reliance on secondary markets to reduce exposure to legacy large buyout positions built during the pandemic-era boom. The approach has been credited with improving diversification and strengthening recent performance.
Calpers has also increased its strategic allocation to private equity to 17% of total assets, up from 8% in 2021, and continues to target roughly $15.5bn in annual investments across the asset class.
Alongside the leadership change, the pension fund has recruited additional senior investment talent, including former CPP Investments executive Derek Walker, as it expands oversight across its broader private markets platform.
Despite improved results, Calpers’ private equity programme has historically faced periods of underperformance and strategic inconsistency, including a prolonged post-financial crisis slowdown. The current strategy aims to smooth investment cycles by maintaining steady deployment across market conditions and increasing exposure to lower-cost deal structures.
Fund officials say the more recent investments from 2023 onward have shown early positive performance, though they caution that newer vintages remain too early to fully assess.
