Nick Smirensky
BOD - Nick Smirensky

Nick Smirensky

Treasurer 

As Chief Investment Officer, Nick Smirensky is responsible for managing the New York State Health Foundation’s investment portfolio and developing its investment strategy. He works with the Foundation’s Investment Committee to develop asset allocation policy, selects investment vehicles, and evaluates performance.

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 a trustee and a member of the Investment Committee of the New York State Teachers Retirement System, an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Public Administration at New York University’s Wagner School of Public Administration, and an Adjunct Instructor at Columbia-Greene Community College, where he teaches business classes through a program sponsored by Hudson Link for Higher Education.