Kirk Wolff Named 2025 Rising Star & NextGen

SWIB portfolio manager Kirk Wolff has been selected for a pair of industry awards: Institutional Investor’s 2025 Rising Stars and Chief Investment Officer’s Class of 2025 NextGens.

The Rising Stars list, which includes 12 allocators who are on track to become leaders within the industry, is selected by the editorial team from a pool of nominations submitted by an advisory board, peers, supervisors, and industry experts. Wolff was nominated for his evaluation of private equity and private credit investments, expertise in co-investments, and contributions to SWIB’s investment objectives and knowledge sharing. Click here to read more about the Rising Stars award.

The Class of 2025 NextGens includes 13 members ranging across the asset allocation industry. NextGen members are “allocators who stand to become chief investment officers themselves someday. They are known for their virtuous mixture of financial knowledge, interpersonal skills and forward thinking. They have a knack for seeing around corners and are already leaders in their organizations and their communities.”

“A key member of SWIB’s $21 billion private equity/private credit team, Kirk has deep expertise in evaluating both drawdown funds and individual company co-investments,” SWIB Private Markets Funds Alpha Chief Investment Officer Anne-Marie Fink said. “We particularly appreciate his ability to collaborate with our managers on mutually beneficial partnerships, securing attractive terms and capacity for SWIB, while helping managers to close deals and achieve their goals. Moreover, Kirk has specialized in the highly technical health care sector. Given the breadth of his skills and willingness to take on new challenges, Kirk is continuing to build his leadership role at SWIB and in the investment community.”

Click here to learn more about the Class of 2025 NextGens and click here to read Wolff’s responses to CIO’s questionnaire.

About SWIB

The State of Wisconsin Investment Board (SWIB), created in 1951, is an independent state agency responsible for managing the assets of the Wisconsin Retirement System (WRS), the State Investment Fund (SIF), and other state trust funds. As of December 31, 2025, SWIB managed more than $178 billion of total assets, approximately 87% representing WRS assets. SWIB’s management of the WRS trust funds aims to provide a fully funded public pension for over 703,000 current and former employees of state agencies, the university system, school districts and most local governments. The WRS consistently ranks among the 10 largest public pension funds in the U.S. SWIB, a steady economic pillar for the state of Wisconsin, focuses on growing the trust funds, managing risk, and optimizing costs over the long term.