Andrew Ward on liquidity management
From Guest Speaker: Andrew Ward CIO Of Boeing · · StreetFins
“The biggest challenge I had in the last year was providing liquidity for uncertain demands upon that liquidity... I didn't know what was going to be called out of the portfolio and so I had to maintain that really high level liquidity but also achieved great returns with that liquidity.”
On , Andrew Ward, Chief Investment Officer at Boeing, spoke about liquidity management during Guest Speaker: Andrew Ward CIO Of Boeing on StreetFins.
About Andrew Ward
Andrew Ward, Chief Investment Officer at Boeing, spoke to Streetfins students in April 2021 about his role and the company's pension plan. He described Boeing's pension plan as the largest corporate pension plan in the country, with nearly $140 billion in assets. Ward explained that if the plan's fixed income portfolio generates a negative return, the pension plan becomes healthier because its liability is fully exposed to interest rate risk, stating that "we are rooting against fixed income to improve our pension health." Ward also discussed challenges during the pandemic, noting that the biggest challenge was providing liquidity for uncertain demands. He said Boeing had to reduce its workforce and offer lump-sum payouts, requiring the plan to maintain high liquidity while still achieving strong returns. Ward previously worked for an insurance company called Aeon, where he focused on alternative investments including private equity, hedge funds, and real estate, before joining Boeing about 20 years ago.