Christopher Ailman

Christopher Ailman is the former Chief Investment Officer of the California State Teachers' Retirement System (CalSTRS), the largest educator-only pension fund in the world, a position he held for over 20 years. He led an investment staff of more than 250 and oversaw a portfolio valued at more than $330 billion​​. One of the longest serving public CIOs in the country, Ailman retired from CalSTRS on June 30, 2024.

Ailman has served on several boards and advisory boards in the United States and the United Kingdom. He serves as the Chair of the 300 Club of global CIOs, and the Kroner Financial Research Center at UCSD Rady School. He also represents institutional investors on the MSCI Management Advisory Committee, and the Toigo Foundation Advisory Board. He is one of the three co-chairs of the Milken Institute’s Global Capital Markets Advisory Committee.

Ailman has received numerous awards and recognitions over his career: the Institute for Fiduciary Education’s CIO of the Year in 2000; the Distinguished Service Award for Advancement of Latinos in Business from the New American Alliance in 2006; the 2011 Large Plan CIO of the year; and Investment Innovator of the Year in 2011, 2013, and again in 2018. In 2017, Ailman received Institutional Investor magazine’s inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award and a second Lifetime Achievement Award in 2023 from CIO magazine.

He is a regular guest on television and radio, including CNBC, Bloomberg, and "Nightly Business Report," and is frequently quoted in major financial publications.

Ailman has a Bachelor of Arts in business economics from the University of California, Santa Barbara. He received his certified financial planner designation from the University of Southern California.