The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) and the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS) were recognized by the Financial Times for their commitment to corporate engagement in a recent article concerning divestment.

CalPERS recently voted to reject divestment as a preferred tool for social change, arguing that “divesting appears to almost invariably harm investment performance.” Instead the new CalPERS policy “prohibits Divesting in response to Divestment Initiatives, but permits CalPERS to use constructive engagement.”

The divestment campaign to disengage … Read More

With several divestment bills before the California Legislature, increasingly urgent calls to leave pension funds alone have been reported in the state media. Just recently, Carlos Solorzano, the CEO of The Hispanic Chambers of Commerce of San Francisco pushed back against divestment bill AB 20, making the case that the legislation will be harmful to businesses in San Francisco and across the state. The editorial board of The Press Democrat, of Santa Rosa, also strongly objected to pensions … Read More

In an op-ed published in the California Political Review, Fullerton Mayor Bruce Whitaker  raised awareness of the fact that in the debate over divestment, other  far more urgent and consequential environmental issues have not received as much scrutiny, even though they should.

Highlighting the fact that there is no consensus around the idea that divestment would actually address environmental challenges, Whitaker cited both CalPERS and Stanford University’s opposition to divestment. CalPERS’ officials called divestment “an ineffective strategy for achieving … Read More

The editorial board of The Press Democrat, of Santa Rosa, California, came out against a trio of divestment bills currently under review by the California State Legislature. The board strongly objected to pensions being used as “a tool for making political statements,” a fact that has been “lost on (…) some state lawmakers.”

At the heart of the editorial board’s argument was the idea that shortfalls in earnings will have to be borne by California’s taxpayers:

The pension funds

Just as anticipated, the investment committee of the largest public pensions system in the United States formally voted to reject the policy of divestment, opting in favor of using constructive engagement with the companies that the $310 billion fund is invested in.

The new policy boldly dismisses the tactic of divestment, which has been proven to be both ineffective against the targeted companies and damaging to the long-term health of portfolios attempting such a practice. The new policy adopted by … Read More

According to publicly available sources, the nation’s largest state employee pension fund, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS), is ready to reaffirm its commitment to responsible investing, and approve a “fundwide policy” to oppose divestment, according to E&E News.

CalPERS has worked hard to uphold its reputation as a responsible investor, and the new policy will uphold and name corporate engagement as the “preferred approach”.  As CalPERS Chief Operating Investment Officer Wylie Tollette stated last week when speaking … Read More