Alfred Kibe, director of capital planning and pensionsfunding in the treasury Department of General Motors, says he isdriven by the idea of challenge. It certainly had to be challengingfor this Kenyan native, who earned a degree in electricalengineering at the University of Nairobi, to switch specialties andcross the globe to go for an M.B.A. in finance at the University ofPennsylvania's Wharton School of Business. Kibe says General Motorsgave him even more opportunities to challenge himself as thecompany's program of rotating people in and out of positions hadhim managing bank relations, business development, auto finance andmost recently capital planning and pension funding.

It was this latest assignment, Kibe says, that has been hisgreatest challenge. He recently led the negotiations to transfersome $26 billion in GM pension obligations to salaried employeesinto a lump sum and annuitization transaction with PrudentialInsurance. The deal, completed on Nov. 1, is the largest suchpension risk transfer on record and represents a huge reduction inpension liability risk for the world's biggest automaker.

What was it GM did with the pension risktransfer?
We have a company that has about $130billion in pension obligations, so any movement in interest ratesgenerates enormous risk to our liabilities that can then flowthrough to the company's P&L. The challenge was to reduce thatrisk in a way that works first for the retirees and second for thecompany. We had to leave the retirees in at least as good aposition as before the change. The cost to GM was $2.6 billionon a cash basis, though after factoring in certain administrativesavings, the net cost was $2.1 billion.

What was the key to the deal'ssuccess?
The concept of a pension risk transfer wasnot new. These kinds of things had been done before, but never onthis scale. Over the last 20 years, there have been many deals, butthe total was in the $1 billion range. This was a $26 billiontransfer. We found a company, Prudential, that was interested. Butwe had to complete the whole transfer in a way that would notexpose the company to market risk between the time we announced theplan to shift the risk and the time we finalized it, which was aperiod of about five months. I can say that was a period of timeduring which we were closely monitoring markets.

Does GM's transaction open the door to more big pensionrisk transfer deals?
It is already happening. Verizonhas gone ahead and recently announced a similar transaction, aboutone-third the size of what we did. And CFOs and treasurers arelooking at our transaction to see if it could make sense forthem. But it will be different for each company. Many of ourpeers have been reaching out to us to ask about it. There is also alot of interest among insurance companies. It's a natural hedge fortheir life insurance business—sort of a giant annuity. With lifeinsurance you pay people when they die, and with this pensiontransfer, you're paying people while they're alive.

Before your current assignment, youran consumer financing. Did that experience help you with yourcurrent challenge?
Sure. In my prior assignment, weworked to put in place agreements with banks in North Americaduring the fiscal crisis that would service our prime customers.Then in 2010, with the acquisition of AmeriCredit, now known as GMFinancial, a captive finance unit, we were able to handle oursubprime and leasing customers. What I learned in that work is thatif you have the right team of people, you can solve your problems.In the case of the pension risk, we started out with a goal oftransferring the risk. We weren't sure there was a way to get itdone, but working together with people at Prudential, we were ableto put together a structure that worked for both sides.

What has been the key to your rapid career climb sincegraduating from the University of Nairobi in1998?
The biggest thing is building relationships. Ihaven't had a formal mentor, but throughout my career, I'vecultivated relationships at all levels—both with senior people andwith peers—and over time, those relationships have helped me buildmy career.

The other thing is I've always sought out challengingsituations. GM has been good for that. With their structuredrotational program, we get to take on a lot of responsibilitywithin a relatively short amount of time. I've been very glad to bea part of this.

Has your electrical engineering training been of any usein your career in corporate finance?
I sure hope so!I worked hard for that degree. And actually, some of theanalytical skills I picked up in engineering school aretransferrable to finance: the critical thinking skills and theability to break things down into smaller pieces.

Do you have any advice for people who want a career incorporate finance?
Seek out opportunities that helpyou to find challenges, and build relationships.

Are there any skills that you are still workingon?
Sure, many. One of the challenges for us infinance is having the ability to “dumb down” our analyses to makesure that whatever we are communicating to people outside offinance is less technical and easy to understand. It's something Icontinuously work on, to make sure I'm effective and can explainthings.

For the complete 2012 30 Under 40 list, see Ascending the Corporate Ladder. For last year's list,see Readyto Take Charge.

For previous coverage of GM's pension risk transfer,see GM to Offer Pension Buyouts, GM Seen Fueling Pension Deals and 30% of GM Retirees Take Lump Sum.