A Los Angeles Pension Is Searching for a New CIO: How to Write Outreach to an LP With No Chief Investment Officer

The Los Angeles City Employees' Retirement System (LACERS) posted its chief investment officer job on 27 October 2026, months after Rodney June retired in July after nearly 14 years. The posting describes a portfolio of about $28 billion across equities, private markets and hedge funds. We set out the facts in our report on the LACERS search for a new CIO. This piece is about the practical question that follows: how do you write to a pension while its top investment seat is empty?

What the vacancy changes, and what it does not

A vacant CIO seat can tempt a manager to wait for the new person before writing at all. That is usually a mistake, in our view. LACERS said in May 2026 that it had put an investment leadership transition plan in place to keep the investment program and its asset allocation policy running, according to its meeting materials. The institution still has staff, a board and a portfolio. What changes is who is likely to answer an introduction and how much weight a single message will carry. A note to a title that nobody holds is likely to go nowhere, and a note to a stale name is no better.

Step 1: Work out who is actually answering

Before you write anything, find out who presents manager recommendations at board meetings and who is named on recent agenda items. Public pension boards publish agendas and minutes, and these tend to show which staff members speak to each asset class. Use that to pick a recipient who is in the seat today. If you cannot tell, a short, polite message to the investment office asking who currently handles your strategy is better than guessing. Do not copy several staff members on a first message, and do not address the note to the departed CIO.

Step 2: Write a short note that does not ask for anything

The first message should be about four sentences. Say who you are and which strategy you run. Give one fact that a pension would care about, such as your fund's stage, your track record period or a co-investor they may already know. Offer to send a one-page summary when it is convenient. Leave out any request for a meeting, a commitment or an introduction to the incoming CIO. A new chief will spend the first months learning the portfolio, and a note that costs the reader nothing to ignore is the easiest to answer later. An example of the right tone is a message that says you manage a mid-market buyout strategy, that your latest fund is in the market, and that you will send a summary only if it would be useful.

Step 3: Prepare for the new CIO, not the old one

The posting says the next CIO will lead the investment division, re-evaluate policies, processes and standards, formulate long-term strategies and asset allocation recommendations, and oversee programs across equities, private markets and hedge funds. That list suggests a person who will look closely at how the portfolio is organised. It does not tell us what will change, and we do not claim to know. For your own preparation, keep materials current so that you can send them within a day of an appointment: your track record, your fund terms, your latest quarterly letter and your answers to common due diligence questions. A manager who has these ready can respond to a new CIO's first request quickly.

Step 4: Use the people around the seat

Introductions from people who already work with the system often carry more weight than a cold message. A co-investor, a consultant who knows the staff or an existing manager can provide a warm path. We set out how in our guide to mapping warm paths when an LP promotes from within, and the same logic applies when the seat is filled from outside. Our earlier note on writing outreach when an LP names an insider to a bigger seat covers the opposite case. A warm introduction is worth more here than at a pension with a settled team, because there is no single person whose preferences are known.

Step 5: Set a follow-up date

Put two dates in your calendar. The first is a check of LACERS's board agendas about a month after you write, to see whether staff changes or searches are mentioned. The second is the week an appointment is announced, when you send a one-line congratulation and the one-page summary you offered. We do not know how long the search will take. Sending your note early and following up at the appointment keeps you in view without chasing.

What not to do

Do not read the vacancy as a signal that LACERS will stop making commitments, because we have no evidence of that. Do not guess at the next CIO's preferences from their predecessor's or from rumour. Do not send the same message to every staff member. And do not imply that you know something about the search that is not public. This section is our advice, not guidance from LACERS.

What to watch next

Watch for the appointment announcement and for the next board agendas. FundLinx members can see who is making decisions at US public pensions.

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