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TMRS Announces Executive Director Succession Plan

At its October 24 Board meeting, TMRS Board Chair Bill Philibert announced that the Board had unanimously agreed on a succession plan for Executive Director David Wescoe. 

Mr. Philibert said, “Today, the TMRS Board of Trustees voted unanimously to promote Debbie Muñoz, currently TMRS’ Deputy Executive Director, to become Executive Director in 2025 when current Executive Director David Wescoe completes his agreed-upon five-year tenure as Executive Director next summer.” 

“My Board colleagues and I are pleased that we will have a smooth and seamless transition to the next generation of TMRS leadership. TMRS has an exceptionally strong management team, and under Debbie’s leadership, it will continue the positive organizational momentum that David has created.”

Mr. Wescoe said, “I want to thank the Board for their confidence in Debbie and TMRS’ management team. TMRS is well positioned to continue to fulfill the Board’s mission to be the model public pension plan.” 

Ms. Muñoz said, “I am humbled by the Board’s and David’s confidence in me, and I will dedicate my tenure to ensuring that TMRS remains one of the best public pension systems in the country.”    

Governor Abbott Appoints Jim Parrish to TMRS Board of Trustees

On September 27, Governor Greg Abbott appointed Jim Parrish to the TMRS Board of Trustees. Mr. Parrish fills the vacancy that was created when Trustee Roy Rodriguez retired.

Jim Parrish is the Human Resources and Risk Management Director for the City of McKinney. He has more than 20 years of executive-level human resources experience serving four cities with 800 to 2,500 employees. Before joining the City of McKinney, Parrish served as the Deputy City Manager in Plano, Texas, and in various roles at the cities of McKinney, Carrollton, and Amarillo in administrative oversight of human resources, risk management, finance, budget, treasury, information technology services, municipal court, procurement, utility billing, marketing and communication, project management, and media relations. 

Mr. Parrish is former president of the Texas Municipal Human Resources Association and a former board member of the Texas Municipal League. He previously served as a gubernatorial appointee on the TMRS Board of Trustees for over eight years. 

Parrish has a Bachelor of Business Administration and an MBA from West Texas A&M University.

Thank You, Roy Rodriguez!

Roy Rodriguez served TMRS with distinction. 

In September, Mr. Rodriguez retired from the City of McAllen, where he was the City Manager and a member of the Texas City Managers Association (TCMA) and Region 10 president. He is a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers, Rio Grande Drainage Committee, Rio Grande Valley Metropolitan Planning Organization, and South Texas College Public Administration Advisory Council. He is a former director of the Lower Rio Grande Water Committee and former gubernatorial appointee to the TMRS Board of Trustees, where he twice held the position of chairman between 2005 and 2018. Additionally, he serves in multiple roles for Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church. 

Since retiring, Mr. Rodriguez has been hired as a consultant for Hidalgo County focusing on planning and economic development. 

Rodriguez received a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering from Texas A&M – Kingsville and Master of Public Administration from The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley.

On behalf of TMRS’ Board, staff, and 220,000 Members, we say “Thank you for your service!”

TMRS Hires Senior Private Market Leaders

TMRS Chief Investment Officer Yup Kim announced today that Philip Hunter O’Brien, Amol Deshpande and Isidora Stankovic will join TMRS.

In announcing the news, Kim said, “I am incredibly excited to partner with Philip, Amol and Isidora to strengthen our global partner relationships, amplify our direct investment capabilities and take the private markets program to new heights on behalf of TMRS’ many members, retirees, and beneficiaries.”

Philip Hunter O’Brien will join as Managing Director, Head of Private Equity, and serve as a member of the staff investment committee. Previously, he led technology and consumer direct private equity investments for Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. Prior to CDPQ, he led the North American direct Private Equity investment practice for the Abu Dhabi Investment Council. Before ADIC, O’Brien was an investor at LLCP and The Carlyle Group’s U.S. Buyout Fund, after beginning his career as an investment banker at Deutsche Bank. O’Brien earned an MBA from Columbia Business School and graduated magna cum laude from Princeton University. He is an Associate Member of the Economic Club of New York and a Chartered Financial Analyst. 

Amol Deshpande will join as Managing Director, Head of Direct Investments, and serve as a member of the staff investment committee. Prior to joining TMRS, he served as a Managing Director and management committee member of Redesign Health, where he made investments with a mission to accelerate healthcare innovation. He previously held roles at Soros Fund Management, Luminus Management and JLL Partners, where he invested in private and public businesses across multiple sectors, including healthcare, industrials and technology. Deshpande began his career advising leading technology companies on M&A and capital markets activities at Morgan Stanley in Menlo Park, CA, and received his B.A. with concentrations in applied mathematics, economics and finance from Northwestern University.

Isidora Stankovic will join as Director of Private Equity. Prior to joining TMRS, she was on the Private Equity team in London at Searchlight Capital Partners, a transatlantic private equity firm with $15 billion in assets under management, where she was responsible for the evaluation, due diligence, execution and monitoring of investments. Before joining Searchlight, Stankovic held positions on the Private Equity team at BC Partners in London and in the Financial Services and Natural Resources Groups of Goldman Sachs’ investment banking division in London and Houston. Stankovic earned a B.A. in Economics and History from Yale University, graduating magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa. She is fluent in three languages.

“I am thrilled to welcome these three accomplished investment professionals to TMRS’ team of award-winning portfolio managers," said TMRS Executive Director David Wescoe. "TMRS and its Members will be well served by their efforts.”