Key Takeaways
- • Carlyle Group is hiring former NEPC partner Bill Ryan as managing director and head of retirement solutions, effective January 5, 2026, per an internal Carlyle memo obtained by PLANSPONSOR.
- • The newly created role is tasked with developing Carlyle's retirement capabilities and offerings for defined benefit and defined contribution plans, reporting to Amal Alibair, head of Carlyle's North America client business.
- • Ryan's immediate focus is identifying opportunities to add private market solutions to 401(k) plans over an initial 12-to-18-month mandate.
- • Ryan brings experience from NEPC, where his team designed and implemented DC solutions for more than 155 plan sponsor clients managing approximately $600 billion in retirement assets.
Summary
The Carlyle Group has appointed Bill Ryan, a former partner at NEPC, as managing director and head of retirement solutions, according to an internal Carlyle memo obtained by PLANSPONSOR and information from Ryan. Ryan will start on January 5, 2026, in a newly created role focused on working with pension funds and retirement plans. He will help lead the development of the firm's retirement capabilities and offerings and will report to Amal Alibair, Carlyle's head of North America client business.
Ryan said his immediate priority is evaluating where Carlyle can add its offerings to 401(k) plans over the next 12 to 18 months of his initial mandate. He said he will remain based in Chicago but will be tied to Carlyle's Washington, D.C. office. Ryan described Carlyle as "humble and pragmatic" in bringing private market solutions to the 401(k) plan market.
Ryan's last day at NEPC was a Friday. He had been a partner and defined contribution leader at the consulting firm, where his team designed and implemented DC solutions for more than 155 plan sponsor clients managing roughly $600 billion in retirement assets. Before NEPC, he led Aon's North America DC multi-asset solutions team, covering target-date evaluations, custom portfolio design and retirement income solutions. Earlier, he served as a director in the University of California's office of the CIO, where he oversaw the university's $20 billion DC program.
Ryan also advises several organizations focused on defined contribution plans. He serves on the U.S. Department of Labor's ERISA Advisory Council, the Plan Sponsor Council of America Investment Committee, and chairs the Investment Consultant Advisory Council of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association.
Ryan said his immediate priority is evaluating where Carlyle can add its offerings to 401(k) plans over the next 12 to 18 months of his initial mandate. He said he will remain based in Chicago but will be tied to Carlyle's Washington, D.C. office. Ryan described Carlyle as "humble and pragmatic" in bringing private market solutions to the 401(k) plan market.
Ryan's last day at NEPC was a Friday. He had been a partner and defined contribution leader at the consulting firm, where his team designed and implemented DC solutions for more than 155 plan sponsor clients managing roughly $600 billion in retirement assets. Before NEPC, he led Aon's North America DC multi-asset solutions team, covering target-date evaluations, custom portfolio design and retirement income solutions. Earlier, he served as a director in the University of California's office of the CIO, where he oversaw the university's $20 billion DC program.
Ryan also advises several organizations focused on defined contribution plans. He serves on the U.S. Department of Labor's ERISA Advisory Council, the Plan Sponsor Council of America Investment Committee, and chairs the Investment Consultant Advisory Council of the Defined Contribution Institutional Investment Association.
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