Jase Auby

Chief Investment Officer

Jase Auby is Chief Investment Officer for the Teacher Retirement System of Texas. Appointed CIO in December 2019, Mr. Auby has oversight over one of the largest investment funds ($185 billion) in the world. The Trust's asset allocation consists of Global Equity (54%), Stable Value (includes fixed income and hedge funds, 21%), Real Return (21%) and Risk Parity (8%). The allocation sums to 104% and therefore has leverage at the asset allocation level. Private asset classes within the allocation total 35% and include private equity, real estate as well as energy, natural resources and infrastructure. TRS is a pioneer among U.S. funds having opened a foreign office in London in 2015. TRS is headquartered in Austin, TX and provides retirement benefits to more than 1.9 million active and retired educators and targets a long term return of 7.00%.

Prior to his current role as CIO, Mr. Auby was Deputy Chief Investment Officer, Chief Risk Officer, Co-Chairman of the Management Committee, and head of the Risk Group responsible for managing and budgeting the risk of the overall investment Fund. He oversaw the development and management of innovative investment strategies including risk parity, low volatility equity, reinsurance and currency management.

Prior to joining TRS in 2009, Mr. Auby worked with two startup companies in Austin, TX. Before then, he structured credit securitizations as a part of the structured credit group at Lehman Brothers. Mr. Auby began his career in an investment management industry resource group as a part of the fixed income division at Goldman Sachs. He received a BS in electrical and computer systems engineering from Harvard College and he is a CFA charter holder.

Katy Hoffman

Chief of Staff, Investment Management Division

Katy Hoffman is the Chief of Staff to the Chief Investment Officer and Chairman of the Internal Investment Committee. Ms. Hoffman also serves on the Investment Executive Committee. Prior to this position, Ms. Hoffman was a Senior Director on the External Public Markets team managing investments in the Trust’s long-oriented equity and hedge fund portfolios. Additionally, she managed the Trust’s opportunistic credit allocation. Prior to her work on External Public, Ms. Hoffman developed TRS enterprise risk management system, initiated the fund’s use of derivative instruments and helped to develop our existing strategic asset allocation. She started at TRS in 2004 as an investment grade credit analyst.

Prior to joining TRS, Ms. Hoffman was based in NYC where she was a credit analyst for the Credit Portfolio Group of JPM which managed the bank’s retained credit risk from direct loan exposure and derivative transactions. She also worked for 5 years in high technology brand management and marketing research.

Ms. Hoffman received an MBA from Vanderbilt University, and a BA in Mathematics from Trinity University.

Eric Lang

Senior Managing Director of External Private Markets

Eric Lang is the Senior Managing Director of Private Markets. He is responsible for formulating and directing the investment strategy and portfolio construction for 35% of the Trust (15% allocation to real estate, 14% allocation to private equity, and 6% allocation to energy, natural resources, and infrastructure). He serves on the Executive Investment Committee and is co-chair of the IMD Management Committee. He is also a member of the Internal Investment Committee. Prior to his current position, Mr. Lang was a managing director of Real Assets at TRS.

Previously Mr. Lang was managing director of Kennedy Wilson. He also was an asset manager with American General Corporation. He started his career at Landauer Real Estate Counselors. Mr. Lang received his BBA from the University of Texas in Austin and his MBA from the University of Houston. Mr. Lang serves as Chairman of the Pension Real Estate Association (“PREA”) and is a member of PREA’s Capital Market Trends Affinity Groups. He was Chairman of the 2009 PREA Fall Conference. Mr. Lang was the inaugural chairman of the PREA|IPD U.S. Property Fund Index Advisory Board.

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James Nield

Chief Risk Officer, Senior Managing Director Risk & Portfolio Management (RPM)​

James Nield is Chief Risk Officer and Senior Managing Director of TRS’ Risk & Portfolio Management (RPM) team. He is responsible for managing and monitoring key metrics throughout the pension trust fund and identifying plans of action. The RPM group manages 24% of pension assets via Portfolio Strategies which consists of Risk Parity and government bonds. Day-to-day rebalancing and financing activities are handled by the Trust Management team and long-term strategic planning is led by the Trust Strategy group.

Prior to joining TRS in 2009, Mr. Nield worked for Ford Motor Company for more than 10 years. At Ford, he worked in the pension group, as a derivatives trader and as a manufacturing cost accounting supervisor.

Mr. Nield earned his MBA from New York University and graduated from the Pennsylvania State University ​with a degree in finance and international business.  Mr. Nield is a CFA charterholder and holds the Financial Risk Manager (FRM) designation.

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Dale West

Senior Managing Director of Public Markets

Dale West is the Senior Managing Director of Public Markets. Mr. West's team oversees market equity assets including hedge funds. Equity strategies include internally managed quantitative and fundamental strategies, as well as externally managed investments and opportunistic investments. Mr. West serves on the TRS Investment Executive Committee, Internal Investment Committee, and Management Committee. He is a trustee of the Standards Board for Alternative Investments.

Mr. West received an MBA from Stanford University and is a graduate of the University of Texas at Austin.

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Read more about Internal Public Markets