ABOUT THIS EPISODE
Howard Hodel spent nearly a decade at the Employees’ Retirement System of the State of Hawaii, rising to deputy CIO and chief risk officer. Twice, in 2018 and again in 2022, the fund turned to him as interim CIO when the top job came open. In this episode of the Allocators Playbook, he explains how the two stretches differed: the first, a period of friction and uncertainty between the CIO, executive director and board, and the second, a smooth handover after Elizabeth Burton’s departure, when he ran consultant and custodian searches.
Hodel also talks about how the fund’s portfolio was built to stay on its path to full funding, with roughly two-thirds in growth assets and a highly liquid diversifying strategies sleeve that allowed daily rebalancing in the 2018 selloff, the COVID crash and the 2022 downturn. He shares what worked (systematic global macro, early moves into private credit and illiquid diversifiers) and what didn’t (alternative risk premia), and describes the debate-driven but collegial investment committee culture under Burton.
00:00 – Introduction to Howard Hodel
01:23 – Leading Hawaii's Pension Fund Through CIO Transitions
06:26 – Managing Change as Interim CIO
09:35 – Investment Processes and Leadership Decisions
10:44 – Communicating with Trustees During Market Volatility
12:41 – Building a Resilient Pension Portfolio
14:57 – Investment Decisions and Risk Management
17:46 – Lessons from Underperforming Strategies
20:35 – Investment Team Culture and Decision-Making
23:51 – Closing the Skills Gap for Institutional Allocators
25:51 – Questions Every CIO Should Be Asking Today
#MarketsGroupPodcast27:43 – FinalThoughts and Closing Remarks
