The PSPRS Executive Team ensures the efficient execution of the day-to-day operations of the PSPRS Administrative Office and is dedicated to administering all directives established by the PSPRS Board of Trustees.
|
Interim Administrator, General Counsel |
Interim Deputy Administrator |
Interim Assistant Administrator |
Chief Investment Officer |
|
Bret Parke |
Erin Higbee |
Clark Partridge |
Mark Steed |
Bret Parke – Interim Administrator, General Counsel
Bret Parke, a fifth-generation Arizonan, joined PSPRS in 2018 as general counsel and assistant administrator. Parke now serves as interim administrator. Parke came to the retirement system from the Arizona Department of Environmental Quality (ADEQ), where most recently he served as deputy director from 2015 to 2018.
Parke attended law school at Arizona State University, earning his Juris Doctor degree in 2003. He began his legal career at ADEQ as a staff attorney before rising to administrative counsel in 2010. He held that post until April 2012, when he was named general counsel for the Arizona Department of Administration and chairman of the Governor’s Regulatory Review Committee.
Before beginning his career as an attorney, Parke worked as a field ecologist, organic chemist and wastewater technician. A descendant of one of Arizona’s pioneer families – including his great-great grandfather, Gustav Becker, often referred to as “the father of U.S. Highway 60” – Parke’s passion is to continue his family’s long legacy of public service.
Erin Higbee – Interim Deputy Administrator
Erin Higbee joined PSPRS as assistant administrator in 2023 and now serves as deputy administrator. Higbee came to PSPRS from the Arizona State Retirement System where she worked since 2013 and most recently served as assistant director of the financial services division and as chief financial officer. Prior to ASRS, Higbee spent 10 years in the role of audit supervisor/manager with two private sector firms.
Higbee earned her master’s of business administration from Grand Canyon University and a bachelor’s degree in business administration, accounting, and political science from San Diego State University. Higbee is both a certified public accountant and a certified government financial manager.
Clark Partridge – Interim Assistant Administrator
Clark Partridge has served as a senior executive with the Arizona Public Safety Personnel Retirement System since 2020 and now serves as assistant administrator. He has over 36 years of state service.
He began his career with the State of Arizona in the General Accounting Office in 1989 and has served in various capacities, including chief financial officer for the Department of Commerce, deputy state comptroller, and over 18 years as state comptroller. Prior to joining the state, he worked in public accounting for Arthur Andersen & Co.
Clark is a former trustee of the Arizona State Retirement System board. He was also a co-chair of the Association of Governmental Accountants (AGA) partnership for intergovernmental management and accountability and served as a member of the Governmental Accounting Standards Board (GASB) tribal governmental accounting work group.
Clark is a past-president of the National Association of State Auditors, Comptrollers, and Treasurers (NASACT) and the National Association of State Comptrollers (NASC) and has served on a variety of NASACT and NASC committees. He attended Brigham Young University and graduated with a bachelor of science degree in accounting. He is a certified public accountant (CPA) and a certified government financial manager (CGFM).
Mark Steed – Chief Investment Officer
Mark Steed began his work for PSPRS as a portfolio analyst in 2007. During his ensuing rise through the ranks, Steed has managed each of the PSPRS portfolio asset classes, including private equity investments, venture capital, fixed income, absolute return, private credit and global trading strategies. In 2019, Steed was promoted to Chief Investment Officer following a national search for candidates.
Steed was named by Money Market Intelligence as one of the U.S. public pension sector’s “Rising Stars.” He has played an instrumental role in transforming PSPRS’s $11 billion in investments from a traditional, stock-heavy portfolio to a modern, highly-diversified set of investments built to withstand market volatility while delivering significant returns.
Steed holds a Master of Science degree in Predictive Analytics from Northwestern University and a Master of Business Administration from the Thunderbird School of Global Management. He earned his Bachelor’s degree from Brigham Young University, where he majored in Latin American Studies with a minor in Business Management.
In 2014, Steed concluded a four-year project as a forecaster for the distinguished Good Judgment Project, led by prominent behavioral economist Phil Tetlock. Prior to joining PSPRS, Steed worked in banking for JP Morgan Chase.
He serves as an advisory board member to the Investment Institute and the Institutional Limited Partners Association, and has the honor of publishing the first guest column on Farnam Street, a prominent investment industry blog and newsletter.