Tennessee Treasury promotes 2 senior investment professionals to key leadership roles
NASHVILLE –Tennessee State Treasurer David H. Lillard, Jr., on the recommendation of Chief Investment Officer Michael Brakebill, has promoted Daniel Crews and Grant Leslie into key leadership positions in the Investments Division.
Daniel Crews, who has served as Director of Private Equity since 2013, has been named Deputy Chief Investment Officer. Crews will now assist Chief Investment Officer Michael Brakebill in leading the Treasury Investments Division, responsible for managing and overseeing $125.5 billion in state assets, including the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) valued at over $69.4 billion.
Crews has been stewarding the state’s capital for nearly 26 years, since starting in 1999 with the Treasury Cash Management team. He later transitioned to Senior Portfolio Manager in TCRS’s public equities group. In his latest role, as Director of Private Equity, he led his team to deliver 17.4% returns per year for 15 years, resulting in over $1.3 billion in active value creation, as of June 30, 2024.
Crews holds the Chartered Financial Analyst (CFA) and Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA) designations. He earned a BBA and an MA in Finance from Middle Tennessee State University, where he later taught as an adjunct professor for eight years.
Grant Leslie has been named Director of Private Equity, overseeing a $9 billion private equity portfolio. Since 2014, Leslie has served as Senior Private Equity Portfolio Manager.
Leslie is a senior investment professional with over 20 years of experience in private equity. Prior to joining the Tennessee Treasury, Grant served as a Principal at Mercer Investment Consulting, sourcing and evaluating fund investments across private equity and real assets, and advising the firm’s consultants and institutional clients.
Grant holds the CFA, CAIA, and Financial Risk Manager (FRM) designations, and earned a Bachelor of Science in Foreign Service from Georgetown University and an MBA from Yale School of Management.
“Our investment team is packed with highly talented people who are able to rise to challenges at a moment’s notice,” Mr. Brakebill said. “Daniel and Grant exemplify those capabilities, and I look forward to what they will deliver to TCRS in their new roles.”
”The Tennessee Treasury strives to be excellent stewards of the state’s financial resources, and we are blessed with a wealth of talent to do that,” Treasurer Lillard said. “Daniel and Grant exemplify our culture of excellence in Investments. They are shining examples of the talent that will propel the Treasury Department to achieve its goals for the benefit of all Tennesseans.”
About the Treasury Investments Division
The Tennessee Department of Treasury is responsible for many of the financial operations of state government, including managing and overseeing more than $125.5 billion in assets through its various investment programs, the largest of which is the Tennessee Consolidated Retirement System (TCRS) valued at $69.4 billion. Treasury’s Investment Division is comprised of 41 professionals with extensive education, professional training and designations to manage its investments. For more information on the Investments Division, visit treasury.tn.gov/Investments.
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