CalPERS Names Corporate Governance Director

The California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS) today announced the appointment of Dennis A. Johnson as Senior Portfolio Manager for Corporate Governance.

Johnson is scheduled to join CalPERS on September 15. He most recently served as Managing Director for Citigroup Global Markets, Inc.

As Senior Portfolio Manager, he will direct day-to-day activities of the Corporate Governance unit; represent CalPERS on corporate governance issues at conferences, seminars, and company meetings; and oversee the pension fund’s Focus List Program, which targets underperforming companies.

"Dennis brings extensive experience to our Corporate Governance team," said Mark Anson, CalPERS Chief Financial Officer. "He has about 24 years' experience in the investment management industry, and a key part of that entailed the development and management of proxy voting policies and actions."

Johnson also advised and counseled clients on corporate governance and proxy issues, managed equity and fixed income portfolios, and extensively conducted research on equity, credit, and fixed income trading.

With CalPERS, he will evaluate the effectiveness of and recommend changes to the Focus List companies program, which involves monitoring performance related to finance, corporate governance practices, and CalPERS strategic issues. He also will oversee selection and monitoring of the Internal Relational Portfolio, the review and selection of new external managers, and the monitoring and allocation of capital among existing external managers.

He will report to Christy Wood, Senior Investment Officer for Global Equity.

Johnson has a Bachelor's degree in economics from the Virginia Military Institute (VMI), a Master's degree in finance from Virginia Commonwealth University, and is a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA). He is a member of the CFA Institute and serves on the VMI Board of Visitors. Johnson is relocating to California from Stamford, Connecticut.

CalPERS is the nation's largest public pension system with assets of more than $196 billion. The System provides retirement and health benefits to more than 1.4 million State and local public employees and their families. For more on CalPERS, visit www.calpers.ca.gov.