The California Public Employees’ Retirement System has promoted Anton Orlich to deputy chief investment officer for private markets and hired Derek Walker from CPP as managing investment director for total fund portfolio management as the $550 billion pension fund continues to expand its private assets program and implement a Total Portfolio Approach.
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Orlich, who has led CalPERS’ private equity program since 2022, was selected following a global search and will oversee the pension fund’s private equity, private credit, real estate, infrastructure and other alternative investment programs. He succeeds Daniel Booth, who stepped down in October 2025.
A former U.S. Navy intelligence officer, Columbia and doctoral Yale alum, Orlich previously served as head of alternative investments at Kaiser Permanente and was a private equity portfolio manager at CalPERS before returning to the fund in 2022. He will continue to oversee the private equity program until a successor is named.
The promotion follows a strong period for CalPERS’ private equity portfolio. The asset class returned 21.5% for the 12 months ended March 31, while approximately $47 billion invested under the current strategy since 2022 generated a 35.8% return, and cut fees by 35% according to the pension fund.
“Anton’s strong leadership of our private equity effort shows up not only in higher returns, but also through greater engagement and performance among our team members,” said CalPERS Chief Investment Officer Stephen Gilmore in a CalPERS press release.
“I’m thrilled to announce the promotion of Anton Orlich and the hiring of Derek Walker,” said CalPERS CEO Marcie Frost. “They are among the most creative, experienced, and well-respected leaders in the pension world, and I’m confident they will produce results for our members.”
“We’ll continue to leverage the expertise of our investment team to partner with top managers and reduce costs,” Orlich said. “Investing in private companies gives us the opportunity to earn better returns for our members while diversifying the portfolio to limit risk. We greatly appreciate the vision and leadership of our CEO, Marcie Frost, to improve our funded status through private markets, and the important responsibility she has afforded to the private markets team to contribute to the retirement security of those who serve California.”
Separately, CalPERS hired Derek Walker from CPP Investments to lead total fund portfolio management as the pension fund prepares to formally transition to its Total Portfolio Approach in July. Walker will report to Chief Investment Officer Stephen Gilmore and succeeds Sterling Gunn, who retired last year.
“I am delighted to welcome Derek to the team,” said Gilmore in a released statement. “This is a critical position for the Investment Office, and it was important to hire an expert investor with a solid grasp of portfolio management and construction as we prepare for a Total Portfolio Approach. I believe we found the right person for the job.”
Walker has extensive experience with TPA, having led multiple groups within Total Fund Management at CPP Investments over the course of 10 years, including Portfolio Design & Construction, Active Investment Management, and Portfolio Engineering, according to CalPERS. More recently, he led TFM’s Research group, with a mandate to develop innovative models that address multi-asset class and multi-horizon total portfolio challenges and to support investment decision-making for the Canadian public pension fund. The CPP fund was valued at approximately $573 billion as of March 31, 2026, and invests to help provide a foundation for financial security in retirement for more than 22 million Canadians.
“Most of my career has been dedicated to public service and to ensuring that people can retire with the benefits they have been promised,” said Walker. “I am pleased to be able to continue that work at CalPERS, and I’m thankful to Marcie and Stephen for placing their trust in me as they work to carry out the CalPERS mission.”
Walker spent nearly 18 years at CPP Investments, most recently leading research within the Canadian pension manager’s Total Fund Management division. During his tenure, he also led portfolio design and construction, active investment management and portfolio engineering teams.
CalPERS adopted a Total Portfolio Approach in late 2025, becoming the first large U.S. public pension fund to embrace the investment framework, which evaluates opportunities across the entire portfolio rather than through traditional asset-class allocation targets.
Walker joins the California pension fund effective in July and will oversee the team responsible for portfolio construction and implementation of the new investment model.