Fair and Balanced was the motto of Fox News. In 2017 they moved to a slightly more accurate “Most Watched, Most Trusted.” Most boards of directors, especially pension funds, like CalPERS, with a fiduciary duty to members that elect some directors and influence the election of others, want to at least appear fair and balanced […]
CalPERS Petition for RCV posted here will be taken up by the Finance & Administration Committee as agenda item 5e. Much of that item concerns the delivery of ballots (mail, phone, internet). My concern is primarily with the desirability of moving to ranked choice voting (RCV). The meeting agenda includes our draft petition of 9/21/2022 but not […]
Testimony to CalPERS 3/13/2023, Investment Committee Item 6b, by Jim McRitchie, a retired member. Note: Actual testimony was limited to 3-4 minutes. This version is slightly longer and includes links. (more…)
RCV in Corporate Elections? Recent action by the Tesla Board makes me believe I may live to see the adoption of ranked-choice voting (RCV) in the election of corporate directors. Tesla may have ticked off shareholders enough that the Board nominees could face multiple challengers. Do we really want to take a chance on directors […]
Ownership: Reinventing companies, Capitalism, and Who Owns What by Corey Rosen and John Case should be read by every director on the board of public pension funds. I (James McRitchie) am planning to send a copy to all the board members of CalPERS once newly elected members take office next year. In celebration of […]
CalPERS Should Adopt IRV for Board Elections. That is the argument Randy Cheek and James McRitchie made in a draft rulemaking petition to the Board in a 9:24 AM email to board@calpers.ca.gov on 9/21/2022 under Government Code section 11340.6. As of the date of this post, the Board has yet to even acknowledge receipt. That feels […]
CalPERS investments underperform. CalPERS underperformed for a decade, investment chief says in pitch for more risk. The country’s largest public pension system earned an average of 7.7% per year on its investments over the last 10 years. That’s 1.2% less than a hypothetical peer should have expected to earn in the same time period. To remedy the […]
CalPERS muzzles critics. The following editorial appeared in the Sacramento Bee on May 25, 1999. The editorial references a “technical violation of board rules” by then Chairman William Crist. Actually, it was a clear violation of the rules, which prohibited changes to candidate statement after submission. No candidate in the history of CalPERS had ever […]
CalPERS and CalSTRS sponsored the California Diversity Forum in Sacramento (“America’s Most Diverse City”) on Wednesday, May 12, 2017, bringing together investment and corporate executives to discuss how to better capitalize on the abilities of the diverse modern workforce. Diversity is both morally right and profitable. Narrowing the global gender gap would add $12 trillion in […]
After engagement with shareholders, two California-based water utilities, California Water Service Group (NYSE: CWT) and American States Water (NYSE: AWR), have adopted policies confirming a commitment to support the human right to water. Sparked by shareholder proposals filed last fall by Boston-based socially responsible investment firm NorthStar Asset Management, Inc., these two human right to water policies are the first at […]
Yes, The Twelve Days of CalPERS by Yves Smith at naked capitalism is very witty, but it plays into the hands of those who would like to see public pensions dismantled. I like some of the work Yves Smith has have been reporting on CalPERS, which obviously needs not only watching but needs to be constantly reminded of its […]
Please attend the upcoming CalPERS Candidate Forum. Sorry, I haven’t been keeping this site up but have concentrated on Corporate Governance. However, another election cycle is coming up at CalPERS. State and local government employees will each elect a candidate. Retirees can’t vote for any of the candidates running in the current election cycle. However, […]
I have endorsed Joseph (JJ) Jelincic and Harvey Robinson in the current CalPERS Board Member-At-Large election. Ballots due 9/27/2013.
A new nationwide public opinion research report finds overwhelming support for Congressional action to provide all Americans with access to a new type of privately run pension plan. The research also finds that Americans remain highly anxious about their retirement prospects (85 percent), and see pensions a way to improve their retirement readiness. Even though […]
“Top administrators and investment managers at the California Public Employees’ Retirement System were awarded $4.5 million in bonuses, averaging 41% of their base salaries for the year that ended June 30,” according to a report in the Los Angeles Times. (CalPERS awards $4.5 million in bonuses to managers, 10/8/2011) The bonuses ranged from a high […]
California’s Governor Jerry Brown signed signed Assembly Bill 873, which prohibits former CalSTRS and CalPERS board members and high-level executives from lobbying their former employers for ten years. The bill is the most stringent measure yet to get at the “placement agent” scandals that in wrote about back in 1997. In his signing message, Brown noted […]
Hank Kim, Executive Director and Counsel for the National Conference on Public Employee Retirement Systems (NCPERS), has unveiled a proposal for a new type of retirement plan. To those who think CalPERS and pensions for public employees should be abandoned, the proposal offers an alternative. See Retirement Security for All. The proposed Secure Choice Pension (SCP) is aimed at […]
Michael Bilbrey is the apparent winner of a special runoff election to fill a vacancy on the 13-member CalPERS Board of Administration. According to the unofficial vote count, Bilbrey received 117,034 votes, while Richard Ross received 78,718 votes. The result is not official until certified by the California Secretary of State’s Office. Bilbrey and Ross were […]
Videos are now available from the “CalPERS Candidates’ Forum,” moderated by the League of Women Voters of Sacramento County, on Wednesday, July 6, 2011 in the CalPERS Auditorium. Although less than 50 people showed up for the forum, I expect many more will watch them online. We will need to consider other options for the next […]
PERSWatch.net will sponsor a “CalPERS Candidates’ Forum,” moderated by the League of Women Voters of Sacramento County, on Wednesday, July 6, 2011 from 6:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. The forum will take place in the CalPERS Auditorium, Lincoln Plaza North, 400 P St., Sacramento, California. Free parking will be available under the building. Enter on […]
Michael Bilbrey got 46,032 preliminary count votes. Richard Ross placed second with 26,522 votes to qualify for a runoff. Donna Snodgrass and David Miller were close behind with 24,101 and 23,627 respectively. Ballots go out June 30 and are due back July 28. PERSWatch.net will hold another CalPERS Candidate Forum on July 6, from 6-8 […]
PERSWatch sponsored the “CalPERS Candidates’ Forum,” moderated by the League of Women Voters of Sacramento County, on Tuesday, April 26, 2011. The forum took place in the CalPERS Auditorium, Lincoln Plaza North, 400 P Street, Sacramento, California. Seven candidates running in the Special Election, to fill the Member-At-Large Position B vacancy, participated in the event. […]
If you are a retiree, hopefully, you saw the brief article on the Ambassador Program in the California State Retiree or on the CSEA Retirees Inc. website. If you aren’t a retiree, contact CalPERS at the e-mail below and ask them if you can attend as well. You may need to take some time off […]
Disclaimer: These are my notes from the second day of a conference of mostly California pension funds. I try, but don’t guarantee accuracy. These notes are very abbreviated and do not cover several speakers. The LA Trustees Roundup keeps getting better every year. If you’re a trustee or even just a member of a public pension […]
The CalPERS Board will consider lowering its investment return expectations from the current 7.75 percent to 7.5 percent. If you are a CaPERS member and are thinking about buying “air time.” If the discount rate is changed, it will apply to all applications postmarked on or after March 17, 2011. Lowering the discount rate to 7.5% […]
On February 28 and March 1, learn how to protect your pension fund. The Los Angeles Trustee Network invites a frank discussion of issues. Major and minor public pension funds from around California will be represented at this free, very informative conference at the Sheraton Gateway at LAX in Los Angeles.
Resolution MB 8/09, approved at CSEA’s last General Council, sought to expand on the leadership CalPERS has shown in the area of corporate governance by exploring how CalPERS could better influence the proxy voting of its own members and in helping us to evaluate which mutual funds vote in alignment with our own values and […]
As we have during the last two CalPERS elections, PERSWatch will sponsor a candidate forum so that members and the general public can meet and ask questions of the candidates. The forum for the Member-At-Large candidates will be held on April 26, 2010 from 6:00 p.m. – 8:00 p.m. in the CalPERS auditorium at 400 P […]
George Diehr has been officially re-elected to the board of administration of CalPERS, as the state elected member. Diehr received 77.5% of the votes; Inderjit Kallirai received 22.4%. Only 28,373 votes were cast by state and Cal State University employees out of about 340,000 eligible voters. We tried to boost interest and voting by holding […]
The AP’s Cathy Bussewitz has done a very good job on a topic that I warned needed more attention. (AP Investigation: Calif. pension bonuses examined, 10/21/2010) CalPERS’ plunging value came as stock values tumbled around the world, the state’s economy suffered its worst decline in decades and basic state services faced severe budget cuts. Virtually […]
Through PERSWatch.net, I had the distinct pleasure of sponsoring a second CalPERS Candidate Forum (the first was last year), thanks to co-sponsorship by the Sacramento Central Labor Council, facilitation by the League of Women Voters of Sacramento County, use of the CalSTRS Boardroom, video by CalPERS and cooperation from 2010 State Board Election candidate Inderjit […]
CalPERS announced that Kurato Shimada resigned yesterday to focus on “personal matters.” “It’s with sadness that I accepted Kurato Shimada’s resignation from our Board today,” said Rob Feckner, CalPERS Board President. “We appreciate his desire to focus on personal matters and wish him well.” CalPERS will be scheduling a special election to fill his vacant […]
The CalPERS Board of Administration consists of 13 members – six elected by members, three are appointed, and four are “ex officio” representatives. A State Board member election will be held this fall. The term of office will be January 16, 2011 – January 15, 2015. You are eligible to vote if you are an […]
CalPERS Ballot rules protect board, keep others in the dark “Self-serving” is what one critic called the vote last week to sharply limit what candidates for the California Public Employees Retirement System board can include in their ballot statements. Certainly, “self-serving” is one word that characterizes that vote. “Anti-democratic,” “chilling” and “wrong” are among the […]
What would you do if the company in which you’ve invested your hard-earned dollars threw it away on fat retirement benefits to outside members of its board of directors? One individual investor, Richard Ayers, conducted a proxy battle this year with Nevada Power Company over the issue. Although he won more than 30% of the vote, […]