LPs

LP ‘institution’ Janet Kruzel to retire from Washington State Investment Board

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private equity, TPG Capital, KKR, Kohlberg Kravis Roberts, Washington State Investment Board, pension fund
Visitors to the Coldwater Ridge Center look up at Mount St. Helens venting steam October 11, 2004. The Washington State volcano has been letting off steam for the last two days and scientists expect will do so for the days to come. Seismic activity has been low in the last couple days but it is believed magma is very close to surface and could break through anytime. REUTERS/Andy Clark NO RIGHTS CLEARANCES OR PERMISSIONS ARE REQUIRED FOR THIS IMAGE AC - RTRD60Q
  • Kruzel was at Kansas PERS before Washington board
  • Assistant senior investment officer retiring at year end
  • Spent 13 years at Washington

Longtime limited partner Janet Kruzel is retiring from Washington State Investment Board at year’s end, spokesman Chris Phillips confirmed for Buyouts.

Kruzel was assistant senior investment officer on the eight-member private equity team. The team is led by Senior Investment Officer Tom Ruggels. WSIB Chief Investment Officer Gary Bruebaker said the system will start recruiting for an investment officer in the new year.

Kruzel is considered an “institution” in the PE LP community, one prominent LP said. Another LP said: “The industry is going to miss Janet. She’s one of the good ones. Wonderful person, wealth of knowledge, doing things the right way.”

“Janet has been a tremendous asset to the WSIB and has served the retirement fund beneficiaries well. We will miss her dedication as well as the outstanding relationships she has built over the years. We wish her well in her retirement,” Bruebacker said in an email statement.

Kruzel has been at the Washington investment board for 13 years, joining from Kansas Public Employees Retirement System, according to a 2003 statement from Washington. She was at the Kansas pension for 12 years before joining Washington, focusing on PE, the Washington statement said.

Washington’s private equity team is responsible for more than $17 billion of assets based on market values as of Sept. 30, 2016. That’s about a 20 percent allocation within the $84 billion retirement-fund portfolio the investment board manages, Phillips said in an email.

Action Item: Washington’s PE performance chart: http://www.sib.wa.gov/financial/invrep_ir.asp

Visitors to the Coldwater Ridge Center look up at Mount St. Helens venting steam on Oct. 11, 2004. Photo courtesy Reuters/Andy Clark