Keith Bozarth, Chief Executive office of the $7 billion Orange County Employees Retiremment System has has been appointed executive director of the $93 billion State of Wisconsin Investment Board(SWIB). Bozarth, a lawyer and native of Hannibal, Mo., will begin work in Wisconsin June 25. He will replace the retiring David Mills, who has held the job since 2003.
The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel quotes Bozarth:
The SWIB position is “one of the few jobs in the field that I would have considered leaving Orange County for,” said Bozarth, 56. “I have known Dave (Mills) for quite a while. I am looking forward to going into an operation that is running well.”
Bozarth will be paid $256,000 a year at SWIB and will be eligible for a bonus. In Orange County, he made “a little over $200,000,” he said.
Keith Bozarth has successfully guided the performance of the OCERS portfolio of investments and this is definitely going to be a loss. Keith really knows his stuff and I believe that a great deal of that performance success is the result of his leadership. Given the current make up of the retirement board, it will be interesting to see who they hire to replace him.