CalPERS

The Pain and Possibility of Pensions

By J. Patrick Patterson Source: In These Times If pensions make your eyes glaze over, that’s by design. The less attention they get, the more quietly Wall Street can profit from them. But these massive funds quietly shape the economy we all live in. As of September, the largest public pension fund in the country — the California Public Employees’ Retirement System, or CalPERS — manages approximately $575 billion. In New York City, five pension funds and systems — representing more than 750,000 current and retired [...]

CORPaTH2025-10-15T10:11:31-07:00October 14th, 2025|Categories: Defined Benefit Plans|Tags: CalPERS, economy|

CalPERS adds commitment to labor issues to proxy-voting guidelines, including DEI

By Rob Kozlowski Source: Pensions & Investments CalPERS may withhold votes from director nominees who show failed oversight and/or a lack of commitment surrounding labor issues such as diversity, equity and inclusion, and also announced it is actively engaging with 16 companies regarding their reported rollback of DEI initiatives. The $533.4 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System, Sacramento, announced the new policy in a global public equity proxy-voting and corporate engagement update included with materials for its upcoming March [...]

CORPaTH2025-03-13T12:13:13-07:00March 11th, 2025|Categories: Corporate Governance|Tags: CalPERS, labor principles, proxy-voting|

California pension beneficiaries send billions in economic ripples across the state

By William Belhado Source: Sacramento Bee Researchers recently found former state and local government employees contributed $28 billion in wages and salaries over the span of a year across California through pension spending. Those receiving benefits from CalPERS and other California pension plans in 2022 supported nearly 400,000 jobs in various industries such as healthcare and restaurants, researchers found. From casual eateries to sit-down restaurants, the service industry was the largest beneficiary of pension spending. Hospitals were a close [...]

CORPaTH2025-02-06T11:44:45-08:00January 29th, 2025|Categories: Economy|Tags: CalPERS, pension spending, retirees|

CalPERS CEO Marcie Frost hopeful CIO will be chosen in first quarter

By Arleen Jacobius Source: Pensions & Investments CalPERS CEO Marcie Frost said she is optimistic that the $483.3 billion pension fund will select a new chief investment officer in the first quarter. The Chief Investment Officer Selection Subcommittee's first round of interviews with potential candidates were scheduled to begin Jan. 17. Frost made the comment at the California Public Employees' Retirement System's Jan. 17 stakeholders meeting. “I know I indicated that the first quarter is the best outcome (to [...]

CORPaTH2024-01-17T15:01:17-08:00January 17th, 2024|Categories: Corporate Governance|Tags: CalPERS, cio, marcie frost|

Don’t let ESG become ‘the next 3-letter bad word’ – CalPERS CEO

By Arleen Jacobius Source: Pensions & Investments ESG is about managing risks and spotting investment opportunities, and should not be allowed to become "the next three-letter bad word," CalPERS CEO Marcie Frost said at the pension fund's stakeholder forum on Wednesday. "When you break down ESG … it's around managing risks related to climate, managing risks related to poor human capital practices. It is about managing risks related to poor governance," Ms. Frost said. Read the full article

CORPaTH2023-01-19T15:58:01-08:00January 19th, 2023|Categories: ESG|Tags: CalPERS, esg, marcie frost|

CalPERS, CalSTRS need fresh skills to take on new risks, Betty Yee says

By Arleen Jacobius Source: Pensions & Investments Asset owners need a different set of tools to navigate their portfolios through the uncharted waters they find themselves in today, said Betty T. Yee, outgoing California state controller and member of the boards of CalPERS and CalSTRS. To get there, boards need more education related to these issues and risks including geopolitical and climate change, and to hire staff with different skill sets to augment the deep investment expertise plans already [...]

CORPaTH2022-12-19T10:12:16-08:00December 19th, 2022|Categories: Multiemployer Plans|Tags: betty yee, california, CalPERS, CALSTRS|

CalPERS CEO pushes back against politicization of ESG investing

By Arleen Jacobius Source: Pensions & Investments CalPERS CEO Marcie Frost decried the politicization of environmental, governance and social investing at Wednesday's board meeting and highlighted the benefits of the $443.2 billion pension plan's ESG approach. "In some cases, the (midterm election) campaign rhetoric not only dismissed the danger of climate change, it went so far as to mischaracterize a strategy we believe in strongly: examining the risk factors of the environment, of social inequality, and of good governance," [...]

CORPaTH2022-11-17T14:33:59-08:00November 17th, 2022|Categories: ESG|Tags: CalPERS, esg, investing, marcie frost|

Controller Yee: ‘More work’ ahead for CalPERS board

Even though CalPERS is taking steps toward fixing its governance problem, officials at the $411.5 billion pension plan say the road ahead is long. California Controller Betty T. Yee, who sits on the boards of both California Public Employees' Retirement System, Sacramento, and the second-largest U.S. public pension plan, the $262.5 billion California State Teachers' Retirement System, West Sacramento, is helping drive the changes. Her duties on both boards give Ms. Yee an unobstructed view of the culture and [...]

CORPaTH2020-10-06T09:46:02-07:00October 6th, 2020|Categories: Corporate Governance|Tags: betty yee, california, CalPERS|