Kim Pollitt

The State Universities Retirement System of Illinois

The State University Retirement System of Illinois (SURS) is committed to incorporating diverse managers into its investment portfolio. It is one of the few institutional investors that have developed a portal specifically to source diverse investment managers. The SURS Diverse Manager Outreach Portal provides an opportunity for diversely owned investment management firms with greater than 51% ownership by minorities, women, or people with a disability to present to the SURS investment team, its manager-of-manager partners, and/or its consultants. This tech-enabled sourcing strategy creates a broad funnel and visibility into investment managers that the investment staff and its strategic partners Xponance, Bivium Capital, Aksia and Fairview Capital might not see through their own sourcing methods. SURS consultants and investment partners are encouraged to conduct further due diligence on participating firms. The fund also hosts Diverse Manager Week to further promote visibility of diverse firms to an audience of institutional level asset allocators. Much of the creative thinking and execution of the program has been attributed to Kim Pollitt, Senior Investment Officer. She joined SURS in 2003.