Olaolu Aganga joins Mercer as US chief investment officer

Olaolu Aganga has joined Mercer, a human resources and asset management consulting firm, as a partner and US chief investment officer.

In her new role, Aganga will lead the US outsourced chief investment officer (OCIO) investment team, directing strategic and dynamic asset allocation, fund manager selection, and risk management for clients including endowments and foundations, retirement plans, wealth managers, and insurance firms.

She will report to Hooman Kaveh, Mercer’s global chief investment officer.

Aganga has two decades of investment experience, with extensive expertise partnering with executives and boards to meet return targets and incorporate sound risk management and investment strategy.

She previously spent over five years at BlackRock, where she was managing director in the US OCIO business, focusing on endowment, foundation, and healthcare clients. Before that, Aganga spent seven years at Goldman Sachs, where she was a VP advising institutional clients on a variety of investment solutions.

Earlier in her career, Aganga spent six years at Citi, where she worked in the areas of emerging markets derivatives trading, municipal structuring, and equity derivatives.

She has an MBA from Stanford University and a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from Smith College.

“With Olaolu’s client-centric focus and proven track record of driving innovation and results, we are confident she will be a trusted advisor to our clients to help them navigate and capture the opportunities of the rapidly evolving global market,” said Jen Kruse, US OCIO leader, Mercer.

Aganga added, “I’m joining a strong, global team of investment professionals and look forward to working alongside them to continue to deliver bespoke investment solutions and drive better investment outcomes for our clients.”

Mercer’s OCIO business had $393 billion in global assets under management as of June 30, 2023.