How the $299.4 billion California Public Employees’ Retirement System, Sacramento, performed investment-wise in the fiscal year ended June 30 will be known July 18.
CalPERS officials will release the data at their annual retreat meeting in Santa Rosa, Calif., during what has been a challenging time for institutional investors due to equity market volatility and low interest rates.
Chief Investment Officer Ted Eliopoulos set the tone for disappointing results at the pension fund’s June investment committee meeting when he said performance was “likely to be flat.” Mr. Eliopoulos also said the next three to five years will be “a challenging market environment for us.”
CalPERS shoots for a 7.5% rate of return annually, something its consultants say will be difficult to achieve over the next decade.
The July 18 retreat meeting will also feature an education session on investing for the long term, with the specific theme of “how will we invest in the year 2035.”
A presentation for the retreat meeting shows that among the topics to be discussed are the effects that emerging financial technology will have on investing and the impact of big data and long-term risk factors.
The agenda for the meeting shows panelists will include Mr. Eliopoulos; Angelo Calvello, CEO of ESG consultant Impact Investment Partners; Charles D. Ellis, founder of Greenwich Associates and current managing partner of Partners of ’63, a pro bono social enterprise group made up of Harvard University MBA graduates; Allan Emkin, managing director at Pension Consulting Alliance, CalPERS’ real estate and private equity consultant; Andrew Junkin, president of Wilshire Consulting; and R. Jesse McWaters, financial innovation lead for the World Economic Forum.
