The Santa Barbara County Board of Retirement has announced the appointment of Gary Amelio as the new chief executive officer for the Santa Barbara County Employees’ Retirement System.
Amelio will be responsible for directing the operations of the $1.9 billion public pension fund and will begin his position with SBCERS on Feb. 22.
He was selected from a field of well-qualified candidates after a nationwide recruitment conducted by the executive search firm Alliance Resource Consulting.
Amelio has more than 30 years of experience in employee benefits and banking and is currently the executive director of the San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System.
Previously, Amelio served as executive director of the Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board, which administers the Thrift Savings Plan, the world’s largest defined contribution plan, and spent time as president of ULLICO Retirement Services, an investment manager for multi-employer pension plan assets. He also served in executive management with major U.S. banking organizations.
Amelio received a bachelor of arts degree in political science and a juris doctorate from the University of Pittsburgh and its Law School.
“Gary is a proven leader who brings a wealth of industry experience and knowledge to SBCER,” said Zandra Cholmondeley, chair of the Board of Retirement. “We are delighted to have Gary on board and look forward to leveraging his vast expertise to progress the work of SBCER.”
“I am truly honored and excited to join the Santa Barbara County Employees’ Retirement System as chief executive officer,” Amelio said. “I’m especially eager to begin this new era of my career with new challenges and opportunities minding the retirement needs for the employees and retirees of Santa Barbara County. I am also anxious to begin the move to and participation in the distinguished and desirable Santa Barbara community.”
Amelio will take over for Lila Deeds, the interim chief executive officer who temporarily replaced outgoing CEO Vincent Brown. Brown resigned in June 2011 to accept the position of CEO of the Alameda County Employees’ Retirement Association.
SBCERS provides retirement benefits and related services to its 8,700 members and their beneficiaries.
— Thomas Bignell represents the Santa Barbara County Employees’ Retirement System.
Comments
