Joyce Pan is a senior portfolio manager of private equity at Exelon, where she is responsible for investing & monitoring the private equity portfolio for Exelon's corporate pension and other investment entities. Previously, she was an assistant vice president of private equity at Allianz. Prior to that, she was a senior investment analyst at The Johnson Company. Joyce Pan holds a B.S. in economics and finance from the University of Pennsylvania - The Wharton School.
In this interview, she discussed how the corporate culture at Exelon can be very inclusive; where she has seen opportunities and strong performances during times of market volatility
and uncertainty; and how the organization impacts its communities through DEI programs and new initiatives.
Joyce Pan was named to Trusted Insight's Top Transformational Leaders Of Last Five Years: 2022.
Trusted Insight: Tell us about Exelon's institutional office, and your role on the investment team?
Joyce Pan: The investment office primarily manages the corporate pension on behalf of Exelon, which is a large energy company. As of now, we currently manage over $10 billion in assets for the pension. Historically, our team has been about 10 investment professionals and that's led by our chief investment officer, our head of publics and our head of privates. Each asset class is overseen by a dedicated portfolio manager and supported by a few analysts. In my role, I oversee the private equity portfolio on behalf of Exelon.
We are actually at an interesting turning point in our investment office history. Exelon just went through a corporate split, and so we've had to split our pension assets and liabilities in connection with this corporate event. We've also had to split our investment team, which was bittersweet because I think we had one of the best investment teams out there. We have very solid core teams at both pensions on a go-forward basis.
This year will be a very big hiring year for Exelon and the spinoff Constellation entity. We're making a number of key hires at all levels on the investment team and are pretty excited about the new talent and ideas we can bring to the team.
Trusted Insight: Attracting and retaining investment talent is critical for an institutional investor like Exelon. What are some advantages of working for a company like Exelon?
Joyce Pan: I think talent is a scarce resource, not just within our industry, but it seems to be across every industry these days. Particularly women and diverse talent. For us, it's about building a team with a great culture, and that really stems from the top. We're very fortunate to be led by a really wonderful CIO who has built a very cohesive and unique culture. We can have differing thoughts and ideas that are respected. All voices are heard at all levels of the team. I believe that's very important in building a successful and high-performing team. That philosophy will continue as we look to rebuild the investment team.
We're also a very small group within a large organization that offers a lot of autonomy to everyone on the team. It's a great place for people who are intellectually curious and want to explore the investment world and have a real say in investment decision-making. The corporate culture at Exelon is also very inclusive. It's not just one thing, but many things combined, that makes a place like Exelon a unique and great place to work.
Trusted Insight: You’ve worked at other institution types in the past. What are some key lessons from those experiences that can be applied to your current day-to-day?
Joyce Pan: Yes, I have worked with different LPs and have seen how they each approach investing and team building. It's fascinating how different your role and focus can be depending on what type of investor you represent.
When I was with a family office, which is a taxable investor, there was just a much greater focus on after-tax returns. Much less time was spent on strategies that produced greater current income or short-term gains. Family offices come in all shapes and sizes, so this is not representative of all family office offices, but the one I was with had five investment professionals on the team. The roles there were very fluid and everyone was involved in everything to some degree. It was a small tight team that could make decisions very quickly.
I've also had the experience of working with a large European-based insurance company. I joined the private equity team there, and it felt different from a family office in many ways. Not only were the investment guidelines very clearly defined, coverage of various manager relationships was also divided up very clearly among the team. It was a very institutional place and had very regimented processes that led to good consistent returns, but there was less room for creativity and flexibility in that type of environment.
In my role at Exelon, it is a nice balance between the two. As I've progressed in my career, I have more autonomy in my current role than in prior roles. Our team is structured such that the manager selection is kept within the investment team. As I mentioned before, our CIO is quite wonderful in giving us responsibility in shaping our own books, which I love. There's just a really nice balance between having all the right processes in place, but not being bogged down by these processes so that we can still be opportunistic and make decisions quickly.
Trusted Insight: We’re seeing the recent headlines of endowments and foundations making historical returns in 2021. What opportunities presented themselves to Exelon in the last 1-2 years?
Joyce Pan: I think it's interesting that we've seen these historical returns across endowments and foundations. We've also had a great year, but not at the level of those headline returns that you've seen. Asset allocation has a lot to do with it because a lot of the foundations and endowments have much larger allocations to equity and private equity strategies, which performed really well last year. There was a strong rally in equities, especially U.S. equities, given the economic recovery. Private equity also had a tremendous year with some huge markups.
We've seen some interesting opportunities within our sector-focused specialists who really understand the intricate market dynamics within the sectors they cover, especially during these times of market volatility and uncertainty. We've also seen very strong performance out of our operationally-focused managers who are able to work tightly with management teams to navigate some of the COVID-19 disruptions, supply chain disruptions, and inflation pressures that we've seen recently.
We've also pulled back a bit from late-stage venture in these high cash-burning businesses, where we couldn't make sense of the valuations. We have continued to invest with some early-stage companies, but also more mature technology software companies that are mission-critical, have robust earnings, and have good growth trajectory. In general, the Exelon investment office is not a market timer. The important thing for us is creating a well-balanced, diversified portfolio with an asset allocation that is appropriate for a pension of our funded status. That's generally how we approach investing.
Trusted Insight: What investment programs or new initiatives is the Exelon investment office looking to be involved in moving forward?
Joyce Pan: Exelon has been involved in DEI-related initiatives and programs for some time now. We had a women and minority manager program that started before my time, and we continue to expand on this program. We send out a DEI survey every year to our managers as we want to recognize the ones that align with our DEI initiatives.
We don't have a specific sleeve of our capital that's dedicated to DEI investments. We don't think about it just in a particular area of our portfolio, but we look at things in a more holistic way. It's not just checking the box for us. We think about DEI in terms of the managers that we bring into our program and also the way we structure our own investment team.
I believe it's important to be a part of an organization that has strong core beliefs around DEI at the management level. Exelon is a large utility company that has an on-the-ground presence and employs local people, which is why DEI is knit into the very fabric of our business in many ways. Exelon recently committed $36 million alongside our Exelon Foundation to invest in minority-owned businesses within Exelon's geographies. This is particularly aimed towards certain communities that have historically been under-invested. This is a new program for Exelon, but it's just one example of how we're constantly looking for ways to impact our communities in a positive way. It's great to be a part of an organization that you feel proud of.
Trusted Insight: How closely does Exelon focus on tech and innovation? We are learning of ways in which technology can be implemented in the institutional investment office, which can help decision making be more efficient/effective.
Joyce Pan: Exelon has been an investor in tech-focused managers for many years. We continue to see the value of being active investors in this space given the benefits that new technology can bring into companies, making companies more efficient and productive. In terms of newer asset classes like digital assets, we haven't made a dedicated manager investment here, but some of our managers do have some exposure here. I think it's an important area for us to understand and explore as these newer technologies and asset classes expand into new use cases.
Within the investment office, we are pretty active users and adopters of technology because we see the value of technology in improving the efficiency and productivity of our own work. We have integrated systems in place now that track our performance, exposure and cash flow models in real-time. These tools are really helpful for us to make faster and more accurate decisions. We're also a fairly tech-savvy group that uses Teams chat and video to communicate with each other and shared drives and workspaces to collaborate on projects. We see the value of newer technologies and will certainly continue to make investments in technology within the portfolio.
View our full catalog of interviews here.
The full list of Top Transformational Leaders Of Last Five Years: 2022 can be found here.
In this interview, she discussed how the corporate culture at Exelon can be very inclusive; where she has seen opportunities and strong performances during times of market volatility
and uncertainty; and how the organization impacts its communities through DEI programs and new initiatives.
Joyce Pan was named to Trusted Insight's Top Transformational Leaders Of Last Five Years: 2022.
Trusted Insight: Tell us about Exelon's institutional office, and your role on the investment team?
Joyce Pan: The investment office primarily manages the corporate pension on behalf of Exelon, which is a large energy company. As of now, we currently manage over $10 billion in assets for the pension. Historically, our team has been about 10 investment professionals and that's led by our chief investment officer, our head of publics and our head of privates. Each asset class is overseen by a dedicated portfolio manager and supported by a few analysts. In my role, I oversee the private equity portfolio on behalf of Exelon.
We are actually at an interesting turning point in our investment office history. Exelon just went through a corporate split, and so we've had to split our pension assets and liabilities in connection with this corporate event. We've also had to split our investment team, which was bittersweet because I think we had one of the best investment teams out there. We have very solid core teams at both pensions on a go-forward basis.
"The corporate culture at Exelon is also very inclusive. It's not just one thing, but many things combined, that makes a place like Exelon a unique and great place to work."
This year will be a very big hiring year for Exelon and the spinoff Constellation entity. We're making a number of key hires at all levels on the investment team and are pretty excited about the new talent and ideas we can bring to the team.
Trusted Insight: Attracting and retaining investment talent is critical for an institutional investor like Exelon. What are some advantages of working for a company like Exelon?
Joyce Pan: I think talent is a scarce resource, not just within our industry, but it seems to be across every industry these days. Particularly women and diverse talent. For us, it's about building a team with a great culture, and that really stems from the top. We're very fortunate to be led by a really wonderful CIO who has built a very cohesive and unique culture. We can have differing thoughts and ideas that are respected. All voices are heard at all levels of the team. I believe that's very important in building a successful and high-performing team. That philosophy will continue as we look to rebuild the investment team.
We're also a very small group within a large organization that offers a lot of autonomy to everyone on the team. It's a great place for people who are intellectually curious and want to explore the investment world and have a real say in investment decision-making. The corporate culture at Exelon is also very inclusive. It's not just one thing, but many things combined, that makes a place like Exelon a unique and great place to work.
Trusted Insight: You’ve worked at other institution types in the past. What are some key lessons from those experiences that can be applied to your current day-to-day?
Joyce Pan: Yes, I have worked with different LPs and have seen how they each approach investing and team building. It's fascinating how different your role and focus can be depending on what type of investor you represent.
When I was with a family office, which is a taxable investor, there was just a much greater focus on after-tax returns. Much less time was spent on strategies that produced greater current income or short-term gains. Family offices come in all shapes and sizes, so this is not representative of all family office offices, but the one I was with had five investment professionals on the team. The roles there were very fluid and everyone was involved in everything to some degree. It was a small tight team that could make decisions very quickly.
I've also had the experience of working with a large European-based insurance company. I joined the private equity team there, and it felt different from a family office in many ways. Not only were the investment guidelines very clearly defined, coverage of various manager relationships was also divided up very clearly among the team. It was a very institutional place and had very regimented processes that led to good consistent returns, but there was less room for creativity and flexibility in that type of environment.
"In general, the Exelon investment office is not a market timer. The important thing for us is creating a well-balanced, diversified portfolio with an asset allocation that is appropriate for a pension of our funded status."
In my role at Exelon, it is a nice balance between the two. As I've progressed in my career, I have more autonomy in my current role than in prior roles. Our team is structured such that the manager selection is kept within the investment team. As I mentioned before, our CIO is quite wonderful in giving us responsibility in shaping our own books, which I love. There's just a really nice balance between having all the right processes in place, but not being bogged down by these processes so that we can still be opportunistic and make decisions quickly.
Trusted Insight: We’re seeing the recent headlines of endowments and foundations making historical returns in 2021. What opportunities presented themselves to Exelon in the last 1-2 years?
Joyce Pan: I think it's interesting that we've seen these historical returns across endowments and foundations. We've also had a great year, but not at the level of those headline returns that you've seen. Asset allocation has a lot to do with it because a lot of the foundations and endowments have much larger allocations to equity and private equity strategies, which performed really well last year. There was a strong rally in equities, especially U.S. equities, given the economic recovery. Private equity also had a tremendous year with some huge markups.
We've seen some interesting opportunities within our sector-focused specialists who really understand the intricate market dynamics within the sectors they cover, especially during these times of market volatility and uncertainty. We've also seen very strong performance out of our operationally-focused managers who are able to work tightly with management teams to navigate some of the COVID-19 disruptions, supply chain disruptions, and inflation pressures that we've seen recently.
We've also pulled back a bit from late-stage venture in these high cash-burning businesses, where we couldn't make sense of the valuations. We have continued to invest with some early-stage companies, but also more mature technology software companies that are mission-critical, have robust earnings, and have good growth trajectory. In general, the Exelon investment office is not a market timer. The important thing for us is creating a well-balanced, diversified portfolio with an asset allocation that is appropriate for a pension of our funded status. That's generally how we approach investing.
Trusted Insight: What investment programs or new initiatives is the Exelon investment office looking to be involved in moving forward?
"Exelon is a large utility company that has an on-the-ground presence and employs local people, which is why DEI is knit into the very fabric of our business in many ways."
Joyce Pan: Exelon has been involved in DEI-related initiatives and programs for some time now. We had a women and minority manager program that started before my time, and we continue to expand on this program. We send out a DEI survey every year to our managers as we want to recognize the ones that align with our DEI initiatives.
We don't have a specific sleeve of our capital that's dedicated to DEI investments. We don't think about it just in a particular area of our portfolio, but we look at things in a more holistic way. It's not just checking the box for us. We think about DEI in terms of the managers that we bring into our program and also the way we structure our own investment team.
I believe it's important to be a part of an organization that has strong core beliefs around DEI at the management level. Exelon is a large utility company that has an on-the-ground presence and employs local people, which is why DEI is knit into the very fabric of our business in many ways. Exelon recently committed $36 million alongside our Exelon Foundation to invest in minority-owned businesses within Exelon's geographies. This is particularly aimed towards certain communities that have historically been under-invested. This is a new program for Exelon, but it's just one example of how we're constantly looking for ways to impact our communities in a positive way. It's great to be a part of an organization that you feel proud of.
Trusted Insight: How closely does Exelon focus on tech and innovation? We are learning of ways in which technology can be implemented in the institutional investment office, which can help decision making be more efficient/effective.
Joyce Pan: Exelon has been an investor in tech-focused managers for many years. We continue to see the value of being active investors in this space given the benefits that new technology can bring into companies, making companies more efficient and productive. In terms of newer asset classes like digital assets, we haven't made a dedicated manager investment here, but some of our managers do have some exposure here. I think it's an important area for us to understand and explore as these newer technologies and asset classes expand into new use cases.
Within the investment office, we are pretty active users and adopters of technology because we see the value of technology in improving the efficiency and productivity of our own work. We have integrated systems in place now that track our performance, exposure and cash flow models in real-time. These tools are really helpful for us to make faster and more accurate decisions. We're also a fairly tech-savvy group that uses Teams chat and video to communicate with each other and shared drives and workspaces to collaborate on projects. We see the value of newer technologies and will certainly continue to make investments in technology within the portfolio.
View our full catalog of interviews here.
The full list of Top Transformational Leaders Of Last Five Years: 2022 can be found here.