As Chairman of the Investment Committee of the New York State Teachers Retirement System, Nick Smirensky is responsible for high-level oversight of  investment strategy, manager selection and operational issues for a $135 billion public pension plan. Until 2024, he was Chief Investment Officer for the New York Health Foundation where he was responsible for managing the foundation’s investment portfolio and developing its investment strategy.

Prior to joining the Foundation, Mr. Smirensky was deputy chief investment officer and director of alternative investments with the $155 billion New York State Common Retirement Fund, the third largest public pension fund in the United States. He was responsible for overseeing the Fund’s corporate governance and investment program, which includes internally traded equity and fixed income, external equity managers, private equity, hedge funds and real estate. He directly managed the Fund’s private equity program. He was director of New York’s College Savings Program and director of budget and financial analysis at the New York State Comptroller’s Office prior to joining the Common Retirement Fund.

Mr. Smirensky holds the Chartered Financial Analyst designation, a Bachelor of Arts degree from Columbia College, and a Master of Arts degree from the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences of Columbia University. Mr. Smirensky is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Public Administration at New York University’s Wagner School of Public Administration, and was an Adjunct Instructor at Columbia-Greene Community College, where he taught business classes through a program sponsored by Hudson Link for Higher Education.