South Carolina Retirement System

Investment Commission

 

The Commission hired Robert L. Borden, former Executive Director and Chief Investment Officer (CIO) of the Louisiana State Employees’ Retirement System (LASERS), as its CIO in March 2006. As CIO, Mr. Borden has oversight for the complete restructuring of the investment program for the South Carolina Retirement Systems’ $27 billion pension trust fund.

Mr. Borden was born at Ramstein Air Force Base in West Germany and during his childhood lived in Naples, Italy, Las Vegas, Nevada, and Austin, Texas. Mr. Borden graduated from the University of Texas at Austin with a Bachelor of Business Administration with a major in Finance and earned a Master of Science degree in Finance from Louisiana State University. Mr. Borden also holds a Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) designation.

In Mr. Borden’s former position of Executive Director and CIO, he managed LASERS’ $7 billion pension fund. During his tenure, the LASERS trust fund more than doubled in size and as of March 31, 2006 LASERS realized 1-year, 3-year, and 5-year returns of 14.6 percent, 17.6 percent, and 8.4 percent respectively. This performance ranked LASERS’ portfolio among the top pension fund performers in the country.

Mr. Borden also served as Vice Chairman and Chairman of the Fund Evaluation Committee for the Louisiana Deferred Compensation Commission. In addition, prior to joining LASERS, Mr. Borden held distinguished positions at the Texas Workers’ Compensation Insurance Fund, Franklin Federal Bancorp, Randy Morine Properties/RB Enterprises, and the Texas State Treasury.

Mr. Borden is very active in numerous professional organizations. He is a member of the CFA Institute and served on the Executive Committee of the National Association of State Investment Officers (NASIO), the Board of the Pension Fund Data Exchange, and the Blue Ribbon Selection Committee for the Endowed Chair of the Investment Trading Center of the Louisiana State University E.J. Ourso Graduate School of Business.