By Dan Walters | Feb. 21, 2018 | Commentary
The essence of California’s pension crisis was on display last week when the California Public Employees Retirement System made a relatively small change in its amortization policy.
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Archive for the ‘ CalPERS ’ Category
By Ed Mendel
Monday, February 12, 2018
The use of the word “unsustainable” had a distant echo this month as the League of California Cities issued a study of CalPERS rates, a move to get stronger local options for controlling rising pension costs.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, Cities, Counties, Finance, Local Government, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
By Dan Walters | Feb. 4, 2018 | Commentary
From one end of California to the other, hundreds of cities are facing a tsunami of pension costs that officials say is forcing them to reduce vital services and could drive some—perhaps many—into functional insolvency or even bankruptcy.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, Cities, Counties, Finance, Local Government, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
By John Myers
Feb. 1, 2018 – 3:53 p.m.
Citing limited options for raising local taxes, the association representing hundreds of California cities warned that rising public employee pension costs might mean fewer services and longer emergency response times over the next several years.
Filed under: CalPERS, Cities, Counties, Local Government, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
Observations on California and its politics
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
May 02, 2017 – 5:10 PM
Throughout California, local government and school district officials are writing new budgets and confronting rapidly rising costs of pensions.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, CalSTRS, Cities, Counties, Finance, In the News, Local Government, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
The State Worker
Chronicling civil-service life for California state workers
By Adam Ashton
aashton@sacbee.com
April 25, 2017 – 7:00 AM
Public employee unions presented a united front on Monday against a bill by Sen. John Moorlach that aimed to close California’s pension funding gap by eliminating cost-of-living increases and asking local governments to chip in a greater share of their revenue toward retirements.
Capitol Alert
By Adam Ashton
aashton@sacbee.com
March 7, 2017 – 4:41 PM
For the second time in four months, CalPERS is preparing to slash benefits for a group of retirees whose former employer stopped cutting checks to fund their pensions.
Ed Mendel
February 27, 2017
Despite a low funding level little changed since massive investment losses nearly a decade go, CalPERS is focusing on avoiding another big loss, not risky attempts to maximize investment earnings.
The Sacramento Bee: With pension reform looming, these California departments went on a hiring spree
CalPERS is one of a handful of California government departments that in 2012 added more staff than usual in the last week of the year. Those new hires were the last to accrue pension benefits under a generous formula that the state began to phase out on Jan. 1, 2013.
By Adam Ashton and Phillip Reese
aashton@sacbee.com
February 12, 2017 – 12:01 AM
On the eve of major pension changes that would crimp retirement benefits for new hires, a handful of California government agencies went on a holiday hiring spree.
By Ed Mendel
January 30, 3016
The two big state pension funds have been on very different paths since both had large surpluses in 2000. But they will have identical funding levels if CalSTRS, like CalPERS last month, adopts a recommended lower investment earnings forecast this week.
The Public Eye
By Brad Branan
bbranan@sacbee.com
January 21, 2017 – 1:17 PM
In South Lake Tahoe, roads are crumbling, and the city is struggling to find ways to repair years of damage caused by harsh weather and snowplows. Orangevale residents worry that fire crews won’t arrive quickly enough in an emergency after their local fire station was closed during the recession.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, Cities, Counties, Finance, In the News, Local Government, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
By Ed Mendel
Monday, January 17, 2017
State payments to CalPERS next fiscal year are expected to total $6 billion, nearly double the $3.2 billion paid six years ago before a wave of employer rate increases.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, Cities, Counties, Finance, In the News, Local Government, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
By one estimate, CalPERS has missed out on $3 billion in financial returns by refusing to buy tobacco stocks. But the pension giant decided Monday to stick with the ban despite a recommendation from its staff that the ban be relaxed.
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
January 2, 2017 – 12:01 AM
It’s very rare, but always welcome, when reality intrudes on political decision making.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, Finance, In the News, Local Government, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
Pension costs for state and local government will begin to rise in 2017 after CalPERS officials voted to throttle back the expectations on profits earned from its $299 billion portfolio.
By John Myers
Dec. 21, 2016
In the four years since California’s largest pension fund recalibrated its investment projections, the annual contribution from state and local governments — in effect, the money paid by taxpayers — has slowly been on the rise.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, Cities, Counties, Finance, In the News, Local Government, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
By Dale Kasler
Business & Real Estate
dkasler@sacbee.com
December 20, 2016 – 5:17 PM
The cost of that government pension is about to go up again, for California taxpayers as well as some public employees.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, Cities, Counties, Finance, In the News, Local Government, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
Ed Mendel
November 21, 2016
The state’s two largest public pension systems never recovered from huge investment losses during the deep recession and stock market crash in 2008. CalPERS lost about $100 billion and CalSTRS about $68 billion.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, CalSTRS, Cities, Counties, Finance, In the News, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
John Myers
Sept. 20, 2016 – 2:47 p.m.
The retiring forecaster for California’s largest public employee pension fund offered some final advice on Tuesday: State and local governments should be required to pay more into the system as soon as next year.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, Cities, Counties, Finance, In the News, Local Government, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
September 11, 2016 – 4:00 AM
The “unfunded liabilities” of state and local pension funds are California’s biggest unresolved political issue – at least in financial terms.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, CalSTRS, Cities, Counties, Finance, In the News, Local Government, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
Ed Mendel
August 15, 2016
Two actuarial associations did not publish a controversial paper by their joint task force, reflecting a split in the profession over whether public pension debt should be measured with risk-free bonds or the earnings forecast for stock-laden investment funds.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, Cities, Counties, Finance, In the News, Local Government, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
August 1, 2016 – 6:00 AM
- California’s state and local public employee pension systems are caught in a vicious circle of rising outlays to retirees, very low pension fund earnings, higher unfunded liabilities and rising demands for more tax dollars.
Ron Seeling, the California Public Employees Retirement System’s chief actuary, believed he was speaking to a closed-door seminar in 2009 when he warned that public employee pension costs were becoming “unsustainable.”
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, CalSTRS, Finance, In the News, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
By Ed Mendel
Monday, August 1, 2016
Twice in recent decades CalPERS fell below 100 percent of the funding needed for promised pensions, and twice CalPERS climbed back. But since a $100 billion investment loss in 2008, the CalPERS funding level has not recovered.
Filed under: Business, CalPERS, Cities, Counties, Finance, In the News, Investments, Local Government, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
July 23, 2016 – 2:00 PM
- Pension problems stem from 1999 benefit boost
- Unemployment insurance ills rooted in 2003 benefit boost
- Stockton violates austerity budget to reopen library
One day last week, Daniel Borenstein, a columnist for newspapers in the Bay Area News Group, published a critical analysis of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System’s long-term finances.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, Cities, Counties, Finance, In the News, Local Government, Pension Funds, Pensions, Politics, State of California
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
July 18, 2016 – 4:03 PM
- Big public employee pension fund gained just 0.61 percent last year
- With low earnings, its unfunded liability for benefits grows
- Maintaining 7.5 percent earnings assumption doesn’t make sense
You can smear lipstick on a pig, but that doesn’t change its innate porcinity.
Filed under: Budget, Business, CalPERS, Finance, In the News, Investments, Local Government, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
Business & Real Estate
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
July 18, 2016 – 9:11 AM
- Pension fund’s investment gains well below target
- Poor stock market showing drives weak results
CalPERS reported a 0.61 percent gain in investments in its latest fiscal year, the second straight year of subpar results for the big California pension fund.
Filed under: Budget, Business, CalPERS, Finance, In the News, Investments, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
By Ed Mendel
July 18, 2016
The two big California public pension funds, CalPERS and CalSTRS, are going opposite ways on a controversial investment strategy, hedge funds, that is under fire from a powerful teachers union.
Filed under: Business, CalPERS, CalSTRS, Finance, In the News, Investments, Pension Funds, State of California
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
July 12, 2016 – 3:04 PM
- California Public Employees’ Retirement System lost money
- Fund is now well short of what’s required to cover pensions
- CalPERS demands more from governments to cover outlays
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System – the nation’s largest pension trust fund – took a beating during the Great Recession, dropping nearly $100 billion in value.
Filed under: Budget, Business, CalPERS, Cities, Counties, Finance, In the News, Investments, Local Government, Pension Funds, State of California
By Teri Sforza / Staff Writer
July 12, 2016 – Updated 7:37 a.m.
Public workers are pumping more money into retirement funds. Public agencies are pumping more money into retirement funds.
Yet the market seems distinctly unimpressed.
Filed under: Budget, Business, CalPERS, Cities, Counties, Finance, In the News, Investments, Local Government, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
Thursday, June 16, 2016 – 12:00 p.m.
You know things are getting tough when a pension fund starts mentioning its 30-year average average return in its investment reports.
By Ed Mendel
June 6, 2016
A former CalPERS chief executive officer, Fred Buenrostro, was sentenced to 4½ years in prison last week for taking bribes, including $200,000 in cash, from a former CalPERS board member, Alfred Villalobos, who collected about $50 million in fees from private equity firms for helping them get investments from the big pension fund.
By Ed Mendel
May 23, 2016
Annual rates paid by employers to CalPERS and CalSTRS are going up, pension funding levels haven’t recovered from a big drop during the recession, and Gov. Brown’s pension reform put a lid on pension increases.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, CalSTRS, Finance, In the News, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California, Unions
By Ed Mendel
May 2, 2016
After reaching agreements with all major creditors, San Bernardino is moving toward an exit from a four-year bankruptcy this fall without cutting public pensions, its largest and rapidly growing debt.
Pension fund says rate hike smaller than expected
Business & Real Estate
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
April 20, 2016 – 5:18 PM
CalPERS approved another round of rate increases Thursday, requiring higher contributions from state agencies and school districts for the 2016-17 fiscal year.
By Dale Kasler
Business & Real Estate
April 12, 2016 3:29 PM
dkasler@sacbee.com
- Bankruptcy judge says estate of Alfred Villalobos lacks money to pay money owed state
- Villalobos commited suicide in January 2015
- Villalobos’ fortune overstated
RENO —
The late Alfred Villalobos, the central figure in the CalPERS bribery case, always insisted he did nothing wrong and he didn’t owe the state of California a dime.
Filed under: Business, CalPERS, Courts, Finance, In the News, Legal, State of California, U.S. Bankruptcy Court
Ed Mendel
April 14, 2016
CalPERS actuaries recommend that the annual state payment for state worker pensions increase $602 million in the new fiscal year to $5.35 billion, nearly doubling the $2.7 billion paid a decade ago before the recession and a huge investment loss.
Ed Mendel
April 11, 2016
Gov. Brown’s plan to reduce state worker retiree health care costs got only a small nod in a tentative CSU faculty contract agreement last week. But three unions have agreed to begin paying down one of the state’s fastest-growing costs and largest debts.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, Finance, Healthcare, In the News, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
Business & Real Estate
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
April 4, 2016 – 9:08 AM
- Decision to sell stocks in 2001 has cost $3 billion, consultant says
- Pension fund undertakes broader look at divestment policies
- Anti-smoking group criticizes potential move
It’s been a hallmark of CalPERS policy for 15 years: no tobacco stocks.
Filed under: Business, CalPERS, Finance, In the News, Investments, Pension Funds, State of California
By Ed Mendel
March 28, 2016
Following new accounting rules, the annual state financial report issued this month shows a “net pension liability” of $63.7 billion, a dramatic increase from the $3.2 billion “net pension obligation” reported last year.
Chris Reed
March 28, 2016
Is the California Public Employees’ Retirement System about to make another big mistake with a mistimed investment strategy, this time in the industrial solar sector?
Business & Real Estate
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
March 23, 2016 – 1:46 PM
- Company operates big solar facilities near Palm Springs
- Plants sell energy to utilities in California
CalPERS said Wednesday that it’s buying a significant stake in a solar energy company with operations near Palm Springs.
By Ed Mendel
March 21, 2016
Social Security recipients get no raise this year because inflation last year was near zero. But more than half of CalPERS pensions will get a raise in May of 1.5 to 4 percent.
The Volkswagen logo is displayed on a car. (Michael Probst / Associated Press)
Associated Press
March 15, 2016
Volkswagen Group’s big institutional investors, including California’s huge public pension fund, are suing the German automaker for $3.57 billion in damages over its handling of the emissions scandal, which has seen VW’s stock price shrivel by a third.
Filed under: Business, CalPERS, Courts, In the News, Legal, Pension Funds, State of California, U.S. District Court
James Rufus Koren
March 9, 2016
Moody’s Corp. will pay $130 million to the California Public Employees’ Retirement System to settle allegations that the ratings agency acted negligently by giving top scores to ultimately toxic investments that cost the pension fund hundreds of millions of dollars, CalPERS said Wednesday.
Filed under: Business, CalPERS, Finance, In the News, Investments, Legal, Pension Funds, State of California
By Ed Mendel
February 29, 2016
A superior court judge has awarded judges back pay and a pension increase, ruling that a five-year freeze on their salary did not keep pace with average increases in state worker pay, a requirement under state law.
CalPERS has completed the purchase of a New York office building for $1.9 billion.
Business & Real Estate
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
February 9, 2016 – 10:18 AM
- Purchase is one of largest real estate investments in fund’s history
- Almost fully leased, building represents conservative strategy
CalPERS has completed one of the biggest real estate investments in its history, purchasing a New York office tower for $1.9 billion.
Filed under: Business, CalPERS, Finance, In the News, Pension Funds, Real Estate, State of California
Melody Petersen
December 14, 2015
The state’s biggest public pension fund has repeatedly missed a key performance goal for its controversial private equity investments.
Filed under: Business, CalPERS, Finance, In the News, Investments, Pension Funds, State of California
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
November 29, 2015
- Bankruptcies and scandals showed danger
- Pension burdens one major factor
- Auditor to monitor local governments
The bankruptcies of three cities and high-profile financial scandals in a couple of others demonstrated the operational vulnerabilities of California’s municipalities.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, Cities, Counties, Finance, In the News, Local Government, State of California
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Alison Vekshin
November 24, 2015 — 8:17 AM PST
Updated on November 24, 2015 — 9:15 AM PST
Private-equity firms reaped $3.4 billion in profit sharing for investing on behalf of the California Public Employees’ Retirement System since 1990, the sort of gains that have led to debate over why Wall Street pays lower taxes than most American workers.
Filed under: Business, CalPERS, Finance, In the News, Investments, Pension Funds, State of California
Brown
Monday, November 23, 2015 – 09:00 a.m.
Not that I agree with California Governor Jerry Brown on much.
But he’s correct regarding the fix to the under-funding problem affecting the California Public Employees Retirement System (CalPERS).
California Gov. Jerry Brown’s disappointment over the CalPERS plans hints at a larger tug of war between him and the state employee unions. (Jeff Chiu / Associated Press)
John Myers
November 19, 2015
- Jerry Brown disagrees with the new CalPERS pay-down plan
If there is one thing that Gov. Jerry Brown has made a calling card since returning to office in 2011, it’s a push toward paying down government debt.
Los Angeles Times: Taxpayers will pay billions more as CalPERS lowers estimate of investment returns
For years, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System has estimated its investments will earn an average of 7.5% or more a year. Now it plans to slowly reduce that rate to 6.5%.
Melody Petersen
November 18, 2015
The board of California’s largest public pension fund approved a plan Wednesday to lower its estimate of future investment returns — a move that will require taxpayers to pay billions of dollars more than expected over the next decades.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, Cities, Counties, Finance, In the News, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
Melody Petersen
Novembe 17, 2015
Experts have warned for years that the state’s largest public pension plan has overestimated how much its investments will earn, leaving taxpayers to pay billions of dollars more than expected.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, Finance, In the News, Investments, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
Though CalPERS has acknowledged private equity’s problems, including high fees and murky disclosure, its record of generating higher returns over time than it does in public stocks has made it an indispensable part of the portfolio, officials said.
Dean Starkman Dean Starkman
November 16, 2015
The nation’s largest public pension fund would have endured lower returns and higher volatility over the years had it not invested in private equity, even with its high fees and added risks, experts testified Monday.
Filed under: Business, CalPERS, Finance, In the News, Investments, Pension Funds, State of California
By Ed Mendel
Monday, October 26, 2015
Still underfunded after a $100 billion loss during the recession, CalPERS plans to slowly shift over decades to more conservative and lower-yielding investments, raising employer rates but reducing the risk of another financial bloodbath.
Filed under: Business, CalPERS, Finance, In the News, Investments, Pension Funds, State of California
CalPERS was a pioneer among public pension funds in investing in private real estate.
Dean Starkman
October 23, 2015
The Achilles’ heel of the vast CalPERS fund has been its real estate portfolio, but there are signs that the long-troubled segment is finally turning around.
Filed under: Business, CalPERS, Finance, In the News, Pension Funds, Real Estate, State of California
Business & Real Estate
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
October 20, 2015
- Governor wants fund to cut risk more quickly
- CalPERS worries about squeezing member agencies
- Buffering market volatility at core of plan
CalPERS is about to implement a new investment policy that will reduce risks and future profitability. But the giant pension fund is being urged by Gov. Jerry Brown’s administration, and some of CalPERS’ own board members, to dial back those risks more quickly.
The pension fund is looking to reduce investment risk.
Business & Real Estate
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
October 12, 2015
- Unusual plan would reduce risk following strong years
- Returns could fall, taxpayer contributions could rise
- All pension funds grappling with volatile climate
CalPERS is about to roll out an unusual new investment policy that could reduce risks but also lower its portfolio’s profitability.
Filed under: Business, CalPERS, Finance, In the News, Investments, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
A new report finds that the average taxpayer-funded pension for an Inland government retiree with at least 30 years of service far exceeds the average Inland worker’s pay.
Published: Oct. 6, 2015 – 8:55 a.m.
It pays to retire from an Inland Southern California government job, an open-records advocacy group says.
Many retired Inland public employees receive pensions far exceeding the typical full-time Inland worker’s annual salary, according to a study released today by Transparent California, which has ties to a conservative think tank. But some critics took issues with the group’s findings, saying the math was skewed to reflect the group’s anti-union stance.
To read article by Jeff Horseman in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
By Ed Mendel
September 21, 2015
After the CalPERS staff gave the board a correction last week for providing misinformation about private equity fees, the board member who has been grilling staff on the issue walked out of a private staff meeting because he was not allowed to record it.
Under a proposal, CalPERS would begin slowly moving more money into safer investments such as bonds.
By Melody Petersen
August 30, 2015
California taxpayers have never paid more for public worker pensions, but it’s still not enough to cover the rising number of retirement checks written by the state’s largest pension plan.
By Ed Mendel
August 24, 2015
CalPERS took another step last week toward a gradual long-term rate hike, a move to lower the risk of big investment losses as the maturing pension system enters a new era.
Filed under: Business, CalPERS, Finance, In the News, Local Government, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
By Dean Starkman
August 13, 2015
California’s two major public pension funds, the biggest in the nation, lost a total of more than $5 billion on energy-related investments for their fiscal years, ended June 30, according to a new report.
Filed under: Business, CalPERS, CalSTRS, Energy, Finance, In the News, Investments, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
The State Worker
By Jon Ortiz
ortiz@sacbee.com
August 5, 2015
- CalPERS’ and CalSTRS’ investment returns rose in 2013, but so did their pension debt
- Unfunded public pension obligations totaled $4,425 per Californian in 2013
- New ballot measure stirs debate over government retirement benefits again
Sacramento — With a new ballot proposal reigniting debate over government retirement benefits, the latest federal figures show California’s public pension debt in 2013 stood at $4,425 for every man, woman and child in the state, despite strong investment returns by public retirement funds.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, CalSTRS, Finance, In the News, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
The State Worker
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
August 4, 2015
- CEO Anne Stausboll says ‘imprecise’ proposed ballot measure makes analysis difficult
- Plan would close traditional benefit plans to new members, create ‘huge’ challenges
- Proponent says CalPERS is ‘lying’ to maintain a ‘failed’ pension system
A proposed ballot measure that would make future pension benefits subject to voter approval is fraught with legal and administrative peril, according to a letter from CalPERS’ chief executive officer, eliciting a response from one of the measure’s proponents that the assessment is a “lie.”
Filed under: CalPERS, Campaigns, Elections, In the News, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
Like other pension funds, CalPERS relies on private equity investing to meet its ambitious annual return target of 7.5% and keep pace with ever-growing obligations to its 1.7 million current and future retirees.
By Dean Starkman
August 3, 2015
CalPERS is finally about to reveal how much it really pays Wall Street for its most rarefied services — and taxpayers can expect a dose of sticker shock.
$1.285 billion: The estimated value of the county’s unfunded pension liability. More than 80 percent of the county’s pension obligations are already funded.
Published: July 15, 2015 – Updated: 10:42 p.m.
Riverside County officials say changes to the county’s public employee pension system have saved money, but that the county will still pay millions of dollars more to the statewide pension network.
To read expanded article by Jeff Horseman in The Press-Enterprise, click here.
Mary Childs and Alison Vekshin
July 14, 2015 -3:51 PM PDT
- The $300 billion fund says it earned 2.4 percent in the last fiscal year, below its 7.5 percent target rate.
The chief investment officer of the biggest U.S. pension fund is most worried about low interest rates as the California Public Employees’ Retirement System struggles to earn enough money to pay beneficiaries.
Filed under: Business, CalPERS, Finance, In the News, Investments, Pension Funds, State of California
By Dan Walters
dwalters@sacbee.com
July 13, 2015
- Ballot measure seeks to curb pension spending
- Both sides gearing up for a big fight next year
- Paltry earnings by CalPERS provide fuel
It’s likely that California voters will be treated – or subjected – next year to a vitriolic campaign over public employee pensions.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, Campaigns, Elections, Finance, In the News, Investments, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
By Dean Starkman
Monday, July 13, 2015
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System said it missed its return target by a wide margin, hurt by a sluggish global economy and an under-performing private equity portfolio.
Filed under: Business, CalPERS, Finance, In the News, Investments, Pension Funds, State of California
Business & Real Estate
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
June 30, 2015
- Pension fund continues to reshape portfolio
- Goal is fewer speculative investments
CalPERS said Tuesday it plans to sell up to $3 billion worth of real estate as it continues to overhaul its investment portfolio.
Filed under: Business, CalPERS, Finance, In the News, Investments, Pension Funds, Real Estate, State of California
By Ed Mendel
June 29, 2015
An accounting board best known for requiring the calculation and reporting of the debt owed for retiree health care promised government workers, which often turned out to be shockingly large, is having another moment.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, CalSTRS, Cities, Counties, Finance, In the News, Local Government, Pension Funds, State of California
By Dean Starkman
June 25, 2015
- CalPERS investment chief said fund returned only 3% over 10 months
- The performance, which trails the broader stock market, has implications for city and state finances
The nation’s biggest public pension fund is falling far short of its annual investment goals.
Filed under: CalPERS, Finance, In the News, Investments, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
Randy Adams, former police chief of Bell, in 2013. A California pension board decided to slash Adams’ retirement benefits because his salary was not approved in public. (Rick Loomis / Los Angeles Times)
By Paul Pringle
June 25, 2015
A California pension board’s decision to slash the retirement benefits of former Bell Police Chief Randy Adams because his salary was concealed from the public will serve as a precedent for other cases in which government officials receive hidden pay, the panel has announced.
Filed under: Bell, CalPERS, Cities, In the News, Legal, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System spends $8 billion annually on healthcare for 1.4 million employees, retirees and dependents.
By Chad Terhune
June 18, 2015
- CalPERS: HMO rates are rising 7.2% for 2016; PPO premiums are up 10.8%
- CalPERS pins higher premium increases on rising drug costs, including hepatitis C drug Sovaldi
Citing higher drug prices, the California Public Employees’ Retirement System said its HMO premiums are rising by 7.2% next year.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 06/17/15 – 11:24 PM PDT |
RIVERSIDE >> The attorney representing bondholders who’ve invested about $50 million in San Bernardino came out swinging Wednesday in the first bankruptcy hearing since the city filed a bankruptcy exit plan that would pay bondholders only 1 percent of that.
Business & Real Estate
June 10, 2015
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
Setting up a possible showdown with CalPERS, two bond firms are reviving their legal campaign to win a bigger share of the money being doled out by bankrupt San Bernardino.
The nation’s largest pension fund is planning to slash the number of Wall Street firms its uses to manage its investments.
By Dean Starkman
June 8, 2015
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System plans to cut in half the number of Wall Street firms it pays to manage its $303 billion fund, an effort to cut down on high fees that drag down returns.
Filed under: Business, CalPERS, Finance, In the News, Investments, Pension Funds, State of California
By Ed Mendel
June 1, 2015
CalPERS is considering small increases in employer and employee rates over decades to reduce the risk of big investment losses, a policy that also would lower an earnings forecast critics say is too optimistic.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, Cities, Counties, Finance, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California
Pension debts are sky-high, but little interest at the Capitol
By Steven Greenhut
May 27, 2015 – 3:10 p.m.
SACRAMENTO — “There are two ways to be fooled. One is to believe what isn’t true; the other is to refuse to believe what is true,” wrote the 19th century Danish philosopher Soren Kierkegaard. It must be an enduring trait of mankind and especially of politicians, who often fool themselves (and the public) about major problems.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, Cities, Counties, Finance, In the News, Local Government, Pension Funds, Pensions, State Assembly, State of California, State Senate
By Ed Mendel
May 26, 2015
A San Bernardino plan to exit bankruptcy follows the path of the Vallejo and Stockton exit plans, cutting bond debt and retiree health care but not pensions. Then it veers off in a new direction: contracting for fire, waste management and other services.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
POSTED: 05/18/15 – 8:55 PM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> A full-court press by the city’s administrators, consultants and allies from the community convinced six of the seven council members Monday that it was vital to pass the Plan of Adjustment, pushing the city into the next stage of its nearly three-year bankruptcy.
Filed under: Budget, CalPERS, Cities, Courts, Finance, In the News, Legal, Local Government, San Bernardino, State of California, U.S. Bankruptcy Court
Dan Walters
May 16, 2015
dwalters@sacbee.com
Gov. Jerry Brown’s revised 2015-16 budget sharply increases spending on California’s 6-plus million elementary and high school students.
By Ryan Hagen, The Sun
Posted: 05/14/15, 4:49 PM PDT |
SAN BERNARDINO >> The proposed bankruptcy exit plan released to the public for the first time Thursday would pay 1 percent of the $50 million owed to pension obligation bondholders, slash retirees’ healthcare coverage, and contract out for services, including fire and waste disposal, among other changes.
Judge allows city to make pension payments
By Dale Kasler
dkasler@sacbee.com
Government pensions in California have withstood another fierce challenge in bankruptcy court.
Las Vegas has the most Golden State transplants
The State Worker
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
May 11, 2015
About 15 percent of CALPERS pensioners live outside California
This city’s Spanish name recalls grassy, spring-fed meadows that nourished the first farms here and gave laborers relief from desert heat.
Filed under: CalPERS, Economy, Finance, In the News, Pension Funds, Pensions, State of California, Taxation
The State Worker
Jon Ortiz chronicles civil-service life for California state worker
By Jon Ortiz
jortiz@sacbee.com
04/15/2015 – 2:50 PM
He’s at it again.
This time CalPERS maverick board member J.J. Jelincic is taking on his colleagues and Attorney General Kamala Harris over a policy that excludes him from performance and pay decisions for the fund’s top executives. Harris says that Jelincic shouldn’t participate in those decisions to avoid conflicts of interest.