Meet Maryland retirement’s new acting chief investment officer — same as the old acting chief investment officer.
The Maryland State Retirement and Pension System has once again named its deputy investment chief Robert Burd to serve as acting chief investment officer on an interim basis while the board seeks a permanent replacement for CIO Andrew Palmer, who retires this month.
As deputy CIO of Maryland SRPS since 2011, Burd has helped shape asset allocation strategy, manage investment risk, and select managers for the $70 billion portfolio. When seeking a replacement, the board decided that Burd would ensure uninterrupted leadership. Executive Director Martin Noven said in a statement that Burd’s “steady principled approach to leadership” has given the board confidence “to lead the division with focus and integrity during this transitional period.”
Dereck Davis, State Treasurer and SRPS board chair added that he is “fully confident in his ability to guide Maryland’s investment program during this interim period.”
Comptroller Brooke Lierman, who chairs the pension’s investment committee, agreed, saying that appointing Burd “ensures the system continues to benefit from a steady hand and deep institutional knowledge.”
This is not the first time Burd has taken on the acting CIO role. When A. Melissa Moye left MSRPS in 2014 to take a position with the Office of State and Local Finance at the Treasury Department, he temporarily led the investment division before Palmer joined the following year.
Over the past decade that Palmer has been CIO, he has established a climate advisory panel, formalized the system’s emerging manager program, and rebuilt the investment team. He also reduced costs and boosted returns by bringing 20 percent of public market assets under internal management and launching a co-investment program in private markets. The portfolio has generated $2.4 billion of excecess returns, or alpha, during Palmer’s tenure.
Most recently, Palmer — a finalist for the fifth annual Allocators’ Choice Awards — shepherded a partnership between the pension plan and Barings to target lower-middle-market infrastructure investments within the state through a $250 million real assets program. The partnership with Barings is nominated for an ACA this year.
Maryland SRPS returned 6.93 percent net of fees for its fiscal year ending June 30, 2024, beating its policy benchmark by 59 basis points. Its three-, five-, and 10-year returns as of June 30 were 2.28 percent, 7.02 percent, and 6.32 percent, respectively. Palmer credited the results to the plan’s “mix of public and private investments,” which benefited from strong public markets while relying on “the more stable private market valuation practices” during downturns.
