CalSTRS' investment committee approved the first draft of a policy to invest up to $1 billion in infrastructure investments. Staff at the $169.2 billion fund recommended using the $31 billion fixed-income portfolio to fund the new investments. The investment committee will vote on the policy at its July 10-11 meeting with an implementation plan to be presented Sept. 3-5. CalSTRS does not now invest in infrastructure, said spokeswoman Sherry Reser.
Separately, initial approval was given to changing the benchmark used for CalSTRS' private equity portfolio to the Russell 3000 plus 300 basis points, the same used to determine bonuses for the system's private equity investment staff. The portfolio, which has $28.6 billion in commitments, currently uses two benchmarks the Russell 3000 index plus 500 basis points adjusted for the last three years of cash flow and the State Street Private Equity Fund index. The committee will likely cast a final vote approving the change in July, said Ricardo Duran, a CalSTRS spokesman.