NEW YORK
FOR RELEASE: April 4, 2002Retired GM Vice President W. Gordon Binns, Jr., Dies
NEW YORK- W. Gordon Binns, Jr., the former president and chief executive officer of General Motors Investment Management Corporation (GMIMCo.) and a former vice president of General Motors Corp., died today in Richmond Va.
Binns, who retired from GM in 1994 following a 40-year career, served as president and chief executive officer of GMIMCo. since its inception in 1990, and was General Motors' chief investment funds officer.
Binns was a founder and the first chairman of the Committee on Investment of Employee Benefit Assets (CIEBA), a professional association of corporate pension plans.
"Gordon was a true pioneer in U.S. pension investing - particularly in the areas of international and emerging market investments," said W. Allen Reed, chairman and chief executive officer of GM Asset Management, the successor to GMIMCo. "His legacy will continue in the pension fund investment community."
At GMIMCo., Binns oversaw the investment of more than $75 billion in assets on behalf of GM's pension fund and other employee benefit funds worldwide, as well as those of GM's insurance subsidiaries.
Binns joined General Motors as a financial analyst in the New York Treasurer's Office in 1954, and progressed through various positions to become assistant treasurer in 1974.
Born June 8, 1929, in Richmond, Va., Binns graduated from the College of William and Mary and received a master's degree in government from Harvard University and a master's in business administration from New York University.
He was a former member of the Board of Governors of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange, and a former board member of the Options Clearing Corporation Board of Directors.
He is survived by his wife, Alberta Fry Binns, and two daughters, Amanda Binns of Richmond, Va., and Clarissa Fretrow, of Seattle, Wash. A memorial service is planned for Tuesday, April 9, 2002 at 11 a.m. at the First Presbyterian Church in Richmond, Va.