Russell Read

Russell Read is Chief Investment Officer and Deputy Chief Executive Officer for the Gulf Investment Corporation (GIC) in Kuwait City, Kuwait, which since its inception in 1983 has become a pioneering and leading asset manager and advisor in the Middle East, focused on the GCC (and MENA) region, Shariah-compliant, and natural resources investment opportunities. Prior to GIC, Dr. Read founded C Change Investments based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, focusing on private equity investments and funds geared to transform the efficiencies associated with the production, distribution, and consumption of the world’s natural resources. Earlier, Dr. Read led North America’s largest pension fund, CalPERS, as its Chief Investment Officer where he launched its inflation-linked asset class and new programs in timberland, commodities, infrastructure, and environmentally-sensitive investing. He developed the first commodities-based mutual fund and related institutional products while at OppenheimFunds during the 1990s. Dr. Read received his undergraduate Statistics and graduate Finance degrees from the University of Chicago and his masters in Economics and doctorate in Political Economy from Stanford University. He is a Governor of both the Hedge Funds Standards Board (UK) and the New York Academy of Sciences.