A year in the life of a CIO is usually of slim consequence in the grand total of experiences – however 2020 was anything but inconsequential.

Riding out market volatility and potential apocalyptic scenarios through the pandemic, Allianz Life's CIO Todd Hedtke also gave particular note to the social changes happening around him.

The Black Lives Matter movement, which was fuelled by The killing of George Floyd in May 2020 the company's own headquarters town of Minneapolis, resonated with the company and CIO.

He is of the belief that better diversity and inclusion is both an opportunity from an investment standpoint and of course a chance to help broader society.

"I always tie this topic to the concept of diversification of portfolios. Having a diverse employee base that has different backgrounds, different abilities different thought processes will absolutely in the long run outperform on the investment side as well."

The social movements of 2020 focused his eye on the company's employee make-up – and to make changes where needed.

The CIO has also managed to guide the company's $150bn of life assets through a turbulent year. Along the way he has been increasing the company's illiquid asset base to a quarter of the overall portfolio – and then putting an ESG spin into the allocations. And, while doing all this, it remains one of the most capital efficient allocators in its space. All these reasons win him the CIO of the year award.