CalPERS Names James Sterling Gunn To Lead Trust Level Portfolio Management Program

SACRAMENTO, Calif. – CalPERS announced today that James Sterling Gunn will join the pension fund as its new managing investment director of the Trust Level Portfolio Management Program.

Gunn has extensive experience in total portfolio management for long-term institutional investors and has been responsible for asset allocation, risk management, and the development of quantitative methods to assess investment strategies. He comes to CalPERS from JSG Advisory, a firm he founded.

Prior to starting his own firm, Gunn served as the senior vice president (co-head of total portfolio strategy) at GIC, which manages Singapore’s foreign reserves, and as the vice president and head, quantitative research, for the CPP Investment Board (CPPIB), which invests the assets of the Canada Pension Plan.

“Sterling has played a key role developing and applying total portfolio methods for large, multi-asset portfolios,” said Dan Bienvenue, CalPERS’ interim chief investment officer. “He played significant roles in designing and implementing a total fund approach at both CPPIB and GIC, and he understands the numerous factors CalPERS must consider while constructing and managing our portfolio. His experience aligns with our focus on ensuring the asset classes work together to generate the strongest risk-adjusted returns for our beneficiaries.”

Gunn earned a Bachelor of Science degree in physics and applied mathematics and an MBA from the University of Toronto. He also has a master’s degree in experimental space science from York University.

Gunn begins his new position on October 12. He replaces Eric Baggesen, who is retiring after 16 years at CalPERS.