Hawaii retirement fund hires ex-director of Wyoming plan

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Thomas Williams, former executive director of the Wyoming Retirement System, has been chosen to head up the agency overseeing Hawaii’s $14.4 billion pension plan.

Williams, who will receive a salary of $225,000, will take over as executive director of the state Employees’ Retirement System on Nov. 2. The largest public pension plan in Hawaii provides retirement, disability and survivor benefits to 118,466 active, retired and inactive state and county employees.

The ERS has been without a permanent executive director since Dec. 27, when Wes Machida was appointed by Gov. David Ige to be the state’s director of finance. Kanoe Margol has served as interim executive director during the past year.

Williams was selected following a nationwide search conducted by Inkinen & Associates, a Honolulu-based executive search firm.

“I am honored to be given the opportunity to lead such an important institution for the state of Hawaii,” Williams said. “My professional and personal aspirations merge here to create a perfect fit for me and my family.”

While managing the Wyoming Retirement System from 2008 to 2013, Williams established and directed the system’s first professional investment team, significantly improving the fund’s performance. The fund currently has more than $7 billion in assets.

“Thom did a great job with the different constituencies and stakeholders of the system,” said Mark Gordon, treasurer of the state of Wyoming, and a Wyoming Retirement System board member. “The system was in a difficult place, and Thom was able to navigate through those pretty strong critics and concerned citizens. He also had a very strong ethical sense to the people who were the government beneficiaries of the system. His ability to listen, process and ultimately react with government, showed good leadership.”

Williams has also been vice president of the Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association-College Retirement Equities Fund (TIAA-CREF), one of the world’s largest financial services companies. He also held advisory and consulting roles in Colorado, Massachusetts and New York.

Williams holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Johnson C. Smith University in North Carolina, and a Juris Doctorate from Rutgers University School of Law in New Jersey.