Scott Hood has been named Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the San Mateo County Employees’ Retirement Association (SamCERA), effective Nov. 9, 2014. He succeeds David Bailey, who will retire in early 2015.

Since 2002, Hood served as SamCERA’s Assistant Executive Officer (AEO), managing the benefits, finance, information technology, communications and administrative staff of the association. Prior to becoming AEO, he served as SamCERA’s Information Technology Manager for two years.

Hood said, “I am both humbled and honored that the Board has chosen me to be the next leader of such an outstanding organization. I look forward to working with the Board of Trustees and all stakeholders to maintain SamCERA’s high level of performance, while building for the future.”

Bailey added, “I’m happy to see Scott recognized for his contributions to SamCERA’s past successes and glad he will have the opportunity to lead the association to many more.”

Hood holds a BS in Engineering from the US Military Academy and an MS in Computer Information Systems from Boston University. Last year, he completed his military career as a US Army Reserve Colonel after serving over 30 years of combined active and reserve service. His military career includes deployments to Bosnia, Iraq and Djibouti where he served in various leadership roles with multi-national teams working on elections, media relations and operations planning.

The nationwide recruitment for SamCERA’s new CEO concluded in September when the Retirement Board chose Hood by unanimous vote.

SamCERA is a tax-qualified retirement plan providing retirement, disability and death benefits for its eligible members and beneficiaries. The association holds more than $3 billion in trust for pension benefits, and pays more than $150 million each year in benefit payments and refunds. Based in Redwood City, California, SamCERA’s 21 employees serve more than 10,000 active, retired and inactive members and their beneficiaries.