UND Economics and Finance chair Prodosh Simlai named to State Investments Board

Simlai will help guide state investments totaling more than $19 billion

Prodosh Simlai, head of the department of economics and finance in the Nistler College of Business & Public Administration at the University of North Dakota, has been appointed to a term on the North Dakota State Investment Board (SIB), according to an announcement by Gov. Doug Burgum’s office.

Gov. Burgum appointed Simlai to a five-year term on the SIB. He also is a member of the SIB’s Investment Committee.

Simlai, who’s been a faculty member at UND since 2007, received his master’s in finance and his doctorate in economics from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He also attended the Management Development Program at Harvard University.

Simlai is an expert in financial markets, real estate and applied econometrics. He has served as chair of the UND Department of Economics & Finance since 2020.

“The State Investment Board members are the fiduciaries who steer the Retirement and Investment Office towards a sustainable future by adopting sound, ethical and legal governance, and financial management policies, as well as making sure the agency has adequate resources to advance its mission,” Retirement and Investment Office (RIO) Executive Director Jan Murtha said.

In 2010, SIB’s assets under management were about $4 billion. As of June 30, the market value of the investments was more than $19 billion.

In addition to being the oversight board for RIO, the SIB is responsible for the administration of North Dakota’s Legacy Fund, and investment for the PERS and TFFR programs. The board also has contractual investment management relationships with multiple political subdivisions.

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