San Francisco Fills Private Equity Post –

SAN FRANCISO – Wen Ling Chin joined the San Francisco City and County Employees’ Retirement System in late June as a security analyst, principally responsible for monitoring the pension’s private equity investments.

Ms. Chin replaces Brewster Wyckoff, who left the pension in June (VCJ, July, page 30) to launch her own consulting practice, which helps private equity firms that want to shift their fund-raising attention to institutions from high-net-worth individuals.

Ms. Chin had taken about a year off after leaving her most recent job in 1998 as a quantitative consultant at Callan Associates. Prior to that, she spent nine years as a senior financial analyst at Chevron Corp.’s pension.

Ms. Chin was attracted to the San Francisco post because it offered her the opportunity to specialize in private equity and to once again work for a plan sponsor. Ms. Chin previously focused on more traditional asset classes and determined their asset allocations, she said.

San Francisco Senior Investment Officer Glen Schwartz said the vacant post was filled through a civil service hiring process, which included seeking candidates from a list of qualified applicants.

Although Ms. Chin lacks experience in private-equity investing, she has very strong credentials, and “she’s very anxious to learn the investment game working for public pension system,” Mr. Schwartz said.

The $10 billion San Francisco pension has a 12% allocation to alternative investments.