By: North Dakota Monitor staff (North Dakota Monitor)
The person who has been overseeing North Dakota’s investment portfolio on an interim basis since January has been named as the permanent executive director of the state Retirement and Investment Office.
The State Investment Board appointed Jodi Smith as executive director in a meeting Tuesday.
The position oversees a $24 billion investment portfolio, including the Legacy Fund, the Teachers’ Fund for Retirement and 28 government pension and insurance client funds.
The Teachers’ Fund for Retirement serves more than 25,000 participants, including about 11,800 employees of public schools and state institutions.
Smith will earn a salary of $244,536.
“Jodi brings a strong track record of leadership and a deep understanding of fiduciary responsibility — qualities that will serve North Dakota well as we continue strengthening the long-term performance, transparency, and integrity of our investment programs,” Gov. Kelly Armstrong, who is chair of the State Investment Board, said in a news release.
Smith was appointed interim executive director Jan. 3 after the resignation of Jan Murtha.
Prior to joining the Retirement Investment Office, Smith served as the director of lands and compliance for the Metro Flood Diversion Authority, which oversees the Red River flood control project in the Fargo area. She was commissioner of the North Dakota Department of Trust Lands from November 2017 to March 2022, and in that role she served on the State Investment Board.
