News release | Thomas Lawrence

WEST SACRAMENTO, Calif. (January 30, 2023) – The California State Teachers’ Retirement System is pleased to announce the appointments of Geraldine Jimenez as senior investment director of public markets and Mike DiRe as senior investment director of private markets.

Both Jimenez and DiRe have been promoted within CalSTRS to these new positions.

Jimenez, the former director of investment strategy and risk, now serves as the senior leader over the public markets: Global Equity, Fixed Income and Risk Mitigating Strategies.

DiRe, who was director of Real Estate, is the senior leader over the private markets: Real Estate, Private Equity and Inflation Sensitive.

Jimenez and DiRe report to Deputy Chief Investment Officer Scott Chan.

“Geraldine and Mike each have decades of institutional investing expertise and excellent track records of leadership at CalSTRS,” Chan said. “That’s a very valuable combination that will benefit our Investments team as we continue to strengthen our organization to equip us for the future. I’m delighted to work with them in these new senior leadership roles and know how committed they both are to bolstering our mission of securing the retirement of California’s public educators.”

Jimenez and DiRe oversee the management of internal and external portfolios and the execution of Teachers’ Retirement Board Investment Committee policies. The senior investment directors also make decisions that significantly impact the Teachers’ Retirement Fund, advise the deputy chief investment officer on sophisticated portfolio management strategies and decisions, and make tactical and strategic investment recommendations.

As director of investment strategy and risk, Jimenez was responsible for implementing and monitoring strategy and risk for the entire CalSTRS Investment Portfolio; guiding the asset liability and management study; leading the research, due diligence and oversight of the Innovative Strategies Portfolio; and chairing the Investments Branch’s Risk Allocation Committee to actively rebalance and manage fund liquidity.

Jimenez became director of investment strategy and risk in 2019 after four years as a portfolio manager. She joined CalSTRS in 2015 after working for 25 years at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System.

“I’m honored to work with our talented public markets directors and their dedicated teams," Jimenez said. “At CalSTRS, we’re always looking for new ways to create the investment returns needed to pay teachers’ pension benefits by working with our skilled in-house public trading teams and leading external partners. I look forward to continuing this focus.” 

As CalSTRS’ director of Real Estate, DiRe provided investment expertise to the chief investment officer, deputy chief investment officer and the Investment Committee. He played an integral role in building direct relationships through joint ventures and real estate operating company investments. During his tenure, CalSTRS added and expanded diversification strategies, including single-family housing developments, private debt, international investments and real estate investment trusts, which are companies that own or finance real estate. Recently, CalSTRS Real Estate has been expanding efforts in board initiatives on environmental, social and governance.

DiRe became the director of CalSTRS’ Real Estate Portfolio in 2000 after working for seven years at CalPERS. Prior to that, he worked for eight years in the private sector as a real estate consultant and investment analyst.

“It has been wonderful leading our Real Estate team, and I’m grateful for the opportunity to join forces with Private Equity and Inflation Sensitive,” DiRe said. “During these challenging economic times, we’ll continue to seek advantageous alternative investments to expand and protect the Teachers’ Retirement Fund.”

In addition to their 65 years of combined experience in managing institutional assets, both Jimenez and DiRe have bachelor’s degrees in business administration from California State University, Sacramento.

Media contact

Thomas Lawrence
Phone: 916-414-1440
M-F, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m. PDT
Newsroom@CalSTRS.com

About CalSTRS

CalSTRS provides a secure retirement to more than 1 million members and beneficiaries whose CalSTRS-covered service is not eligible for Social Security participation. On average, members who retired in 2021–22 had 25 years of service and a monthly benefit of $4,809. Established in 1913, CalSTRS is the largest educator-only pension fund in the world with $302.1 billion in assets under management as of December 31, 2022. CalSTRS demonstrates its strong commitment to long-term corporate sustainability principles in its annual Sustainability Report. For more information, visit CalSTRS.com.