The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), the biggest pension system in the country, reported some good news recently, when officials announced a stellar 11.2% return rate percent, a stark contrast to less than stellar returns from the past two years, when CalPERS recorded returns of .61% and 2.4%.

The good news comes at a time when pension funds all across the country are being pressured to stray away from their primary mission, securing the retirement of those retirees who … Read More

In anticipation of the California State Senate hearing on Assembly Bill 20 on July 10, California members of Protect our Pensions sent a letter urging lawmakers to take politics out of pension decisions, and to reject this costly legislation.

The bill, introduced in late 2016, is designed to pressure the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) to divest from businesses involved with the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), a project that is already … Read More

The push to inject politics into investment decisions has spread beyond just pensions and has permeated to other sectors as well. Most recently, 13 state officials signed onto a cease and desist letter to California Insurance Commissioner Dave Jones, who has used his position to pressure insurance companies to divest from traditional energy assets.

The editorial board of The Oklahoman spoke out against the initiative as well, explaining just why the Mr. Jones’ crusade is harmful to consumers far beyond … Read More

AB 20, the controversial bill designed to pressure CalPERS and CalSTRS to divest of funds of companies involved in the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), received more bad press today. The  Orange County Register published an op-ed calling the legislation “problematic” and highlighting the negative effect of divestment on the state’s pension funds.

Economist Dr. Wayne Winegarden of the Pacific Research Institute stressed what the effects of increasing the pension shortfall would be:

Without properly accounting for risk,

With the members of San Francisco Employees’ Retirement System set to meet to discuss, among other issues, the topic of divestment, members of Protect our Pensions took to the pages of the San Francisco Examiner to urge the board to consider the negative consequences to pensioners that such a decision would cause.

Carlos Solorzano, the CEO of the Hispanic Chambers of Commerce of San Francisco and Yolanda Hudson, a pensioner and a retired science teacher from Detroit, made the case … Read More