CalPERS’ investment chief jumping to green-investing biz

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The giant CalPERS pension fund is losing its investment chief to the green movement.

In a surprise, Russell Read -- who has been principal investment officer of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System for just two years -- told the pension system’s board this week that he’s leaving June 30.

Read, 44, said in a letter to the board that he was quitting ‘to pursue my long-standing interest in environmental and clean-technology investing.’

Pat Macht, a spokeswoman for CalPERS in Sacramento, confirmed that Read was leaving and said the move hadn’t been expected.

Read was attending a conference in New Orleans and wasn’t immediately available for comment. (UPDATE: Go here for an interview I did with Read this afternoon.)

Read has been pushing the $242-billion CalPERS fund -- the nation’s largest public pension fund -- to shift a chunk of its assets away from stocks and bonds and into commodities, such as oil and timberlands, as well as into public-private partnerships that build infrastructure projects.

Anne Stausboll, assistant executive officer for investments at CalPERS, will take over as interim investment chief until the board finds a permanent successor, Macht said.

Read came to CalPERS from Deutsche Asset Management, where he was deputy chief investment officer.

Posted April 23, 2008