Oregon State Treasury Announces Hiring of New Director of Private Market Investments

The Oregon State Treasury announced today the hiring of Tad Fergusson, CFA, as Director of Private Market investments. Fergusson will start at Treasury in his new role on July 28.

Fergusson joins Treasury with nearly three decades of experience in institutional investing and portfolio management. In his position, he will play a key leadership role in overseeing Oregon’s private markets investments on behalf of the Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund (OPERF) and other state trust funds.

Oregon State Treasurer Elizabeth Steiner said, “Private market investments are an important part of Oregon’s portfolio. Tad brings his experience and expertise to Treasury at a time when global economic uncertainty makes our investment decisions more complex. I welcome Tad to Treasury and look forward to working with him.”

Prior to joining Treasury, Fergusson has served as Managing Principal at Meketa Investment Group since 2019, where he advised some of the largest public pension plans in the country across private equity, private credit, and real assets. Previously, he spent more than two decades at Pension Consulting Alliance, leading private equity consulting efforts and guiding strategy for major public pension plans. Fergusson holds an MBA and a bachelor’s degree in economics from the University of Oregon and is a Chartered Financial Analyst.

“I’m honored to join the Oregon State Treasury as Director of Private Markets and am grateful for the opportunity to lead this team,” said Tad Fergusson. “As a lifelong Oregonian, I look forward to building strong relationships with our partners and stakeholders as we work together to deliver long-term, sustainable value for Oregon and our state’s public employees.”

In his new role, Fergusson will oversee Treasury’s private market investments, which has historically been one of the best performing asset classes within OPERF. Over the last 10 years, private equity investments have returned 12.69%, the highest rate of return for any asset class within the retirement fund’s portfolio. With approximately 26% of the portfolio currently allocated to private equity, these investments play a key role in helping to deliver long-term, risk-adjusted returns for Oregon’s public retirees.

As Director of Private Market Investments, Fergusson will report to Chief Investment Officer Rex Kim. He will join a team of investment professionals responsible for managing Oregon’s globally diversified portfolio on behalf of public entities and beneficiaries of the state retirement system.