(HARTFORD, CT) – Governor Ned Lamont today announced that he is appointing Philip Zecher of Stamford to serve as a member of the Connecticut Investment Advisory Council (IAC). Additionally, he is selecting Zecher to serve as the group’s chairperson.
The IAC is the state entity that is statutorily responsible for assisting the state treasurer on investment policies. It consists of five members of the public who are appointed by the governor and legislative leaders and all of whom must have experience in matters relating to investments, three representatives of the teachers’ unions, two representatives of the state employees’ unions, and two ex-officio members, including the state treasurer and the secretary of the Office of Policy and Management. The governor is responsible for selecting one of the council’s members to serve as chairperson. Its members are volunteers and are not compensated for their services.
Zecher will succeed the IAC’s current chairperson, D. Ellen Shuman, in the leadership role. Although she is stepping down as chairperson, Shuman will continue to serve as a member of the council.
“Phil has spent his career in the arena of finance and investment, and his experience working for organizations in both the public and private sectors will bring a fresh set of ideas and perspectives to our state as we work to increase the returns on our investments, strengthen our finances, and save taxpayers’ money,” Governor Lamont said. “I look forward to having him join the council and appreciate his willingness to serve in this volunteer position. I also must thank Ellen for her leadership as chair of the IAC, particularly during the COVID pandemic during which we had to work diligently to realign our investment strategies. Although she is stepping down as chair, I am thankful that she is going to continue serving as a member of this group because her input and guidance have always been valuable to our investment policies.”
“I’m deeply grateful for the leadership and partnership of Ellen Shuman as chair of the IAC,” Treasurer Erick Russell said. “Throughout her time leading the volunteer members of the IAC, she has eagerly shared her expertise and collaborated with others to strengthen our pension funds on behalf of retired workers and Connecticut taxpayers. I’m confident that incoming Chair Zecher will build on the IAC’s culture of excellence and service, bringing valuable insight from his impressive career in investments and finance. While this work is often complex and underappreciated, it is critically important. We are fortunate to have experts like Philip, Ellen, and the other IAC members helping to make Connecticut’s pension funds a national leader. I look forward to continuing our work together.”
“I am very honored to be asked be asked by Governor Lamont to serve in this role and lucky to be following on the great work Chair Shuman has done with Treasurer Russell,” Zecher said. “I will work hard to keep that momentum going.”
Zecher currently serves as the chief investment officer for Michigan State University (MSU) at its Stamford, Connecticut, office, and he is responsible for overseeing the university’s $4.2 billion endowment. He was tapped to start the university’s investment office in 2016, and under his leadership the endowment has risen to one of the top performing university endowments, leading him to be named one of the top 30 endowment CIOs by Trusted Insight magazine in 2020.
Prior to working for MSU, Zecher was partner and chief risk officer of the currency hedge fund EQA Partners, which is based in Stamford. In 1999, he co-founded Investor Analytics, a New York City-based risk advisory firm focused on the hedge fund and fund-of-funds industry. Investor Analytics was the first risk advisory firm to provide risk analytics as software-as-a-service via the internet.
Zecher has served as a company director in the U.S. and Ireland and as a member of several nonprofit boards, including the MSU Foundation, before being named the university’s CIO. He is currently a member of the investment committee for the Association of Public and Land Grant Universities. In 2015, Zecher was professor of finance at the Broad College of Business at MSU.
He received his Ph.D. in nuclear physics from MSU.
