SSF vice chairman heads to CIC

Li Keping will replace Gao Xiqing as chief investment officer at CIC. Gao will reportedly continue his roles as vice chairman and president.

Li Keping, vice chairman of China’s Social Security Fund (SSF), has left the organisation to take on the role of chief investment officer of China Investment Corporation (CIC), an industry source confirmed to PERENews.com's sister title, PE Asia.

According to the source, Li's replacement has yet to be named. SSF declined to comment.

Li, who joined the SSF in 2001, was in charge of the pension fund’s overseas investment, which includes stocks and bonds. He previously worked at the State Council. Li holds a degree in economics from Peking University.

According to Chinese media Capitalweek, current CIC chief investment officer Gao Xiqing will continue to serve as the sovereign wealth fund’s vice chairman and president. Gao also served as vice chairman of SSF prior to CIC.

In May, SSF reported an RMB34.9 million (€3.75 million; $5.37 million) revenue from investments in Chinese private equity funds as of end of 2010. While the pension fund has reportedly invested in 11 funds up until now, it has yet to receive a green light toward overseas private equity investments.

Another source told PE Asia recently that the SSF had submitted an application to the Ministry of Finance to invest in foreign private equity funds but it is unclear when an approval will be seen. An allocation to foreign private equity will be separated from the current 10 percent allocation to domestic private equity, according to the source.

CIC has been actively investing in real estate in recent times. See next month's issue for a report on the sovereign wealth fund.