CalSTRS' portfolio has crossed the $300 billion mark for the first time, despite a rugged 18-month period that included shutdowns around the globe, market volatility, virtual board meetings and investment staff mostly working from home.
As of May 31, the California State Teachers' Retirement System, West Sacramento, had $306.7 billion, and staff expects to end its June 30 fiscal year with an estimated $308.3 billion portfolio.
"The past fiscal year had spectacular investment returns pushed by unprecedented federal government stimulus, both fiscal and monetary," said CIO Christopher J. Ailman in a written statement for Pensions & Investments. "They not only softened the impact of a global pandemic, they pushed assets to record high values."
But as Mr. Ailman has said often at board meetings, CalSTRS is a long-term investor with a diversified portfolio.
CalSTRS' portfolio is broadly diversified and its risk-mitigating strategies, which accounted for 7.8% of its portfolio as of April 30, "played a significant role in weathering the public equity market downturn at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic," said spokesman Thomas Lawrence.
CalSTRS' risk-mitigating strategies was its second-best performing asset class in fiscal year 2020 with a net 7.8% return, even though it underperformed its custom benchmark return of 10.3%. CalSTRS' total portfolio return was a net 3.9% for the fiscal year ended June 30, 2020, above its 3.7% benchmark.
