New Mexico State Investment Council chief investment officer Robert “Vince” Smith is retiring following a cancer diagnosis, ending a transformative tenure that saw more than $50 billion in assets added to a system that had been rattled by a pay-to-play scandal.
Smith will continue to consult with investment staff before his December 31 retirement date, according to a statement. A spokesperson wasn’t immediately able to provide further details about a transition plan.
Smith was hired as the system’s CIO in 2010 when the sovereign fund managed about $14 billion in assets. Today, the system oversees a $66 billion pool of assets across its four permanent funds.
He was brought onto the NMSIC’s investment staff when the system was looking to redeem its credibility following the 2009 discovery of a pay-to-play scandal, according to a report by affiliate title Private Equity International.
Based on that 2013 report, the system’s private equity adviser, Saul Meyer-led Aldus Equity Partners, had been implicated in New York State Common Retirement Fund’s pay-to-play scandal. That prompted an overhaul of the system’s investment staff and dramatic changes to internal governance policies and fund manager contracts.
Smith, who had previously served as the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System’s CIO, possessed an already storied career on investment teams at state-level public funds in Montana, Texas and Kansas. NMSIC’s statement referred to him as “among the country’s most experienced and long‐serving public fund investment officers” today.
In the statement about Smith’s pending retirement, NMSIC state investment officer Jon Clark said Smith’s leadership “has always been understated, but he has never backed down from a battle,” adding that council and staff “are all pulling for his speedy recovery.”
The statement suggested a search for a permanent replacement could come later in the year.
NMSIC is in the middle of bolstering exposure to private assets — and venture capital, in particular — following several years of record cash inflows from oil revenues. In August, it committed a combined $690 million to funds managed by 8VC, DCVC, J2 Ventures, Lightspeed Venture Partners, Lowercarbon Capital, Menlo Ventures and TCG Crossover Management, as Venture Capital Journal previously reported.
Earlier this year, the sovereign fund reported that it made commitments to 12 venture funds in 2024, which “set a new record for New Mexico-centric investments, while advancing its recent efforts that have dedicated $774 million across more than 20 venture capital funds since November 2022.”
