Report Title: Towards Sustainable Investment: Taking Responsibility
Report Author: Calpers
Publish Date: 4/25/2012
Report Summary:
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System (CalPERS) has released its first-ever report chronicling the pension fund’s efforts on sustainable investing.
The annual report, entitled Towards Sustainable Investment: Taking Responsibility (PDF, 785 KB), outlines CalPERS journey to create a fiduciary framework to integrate sustainability across the pension fund’s $235 billion investment portfolio and how it will help achieve long-term risk adjusted returns. CalPERS also spells out its vision for sustainable investing in the report and how it puts sustainable principles in practice in its own Sacramento, California-based operations.
“We have a proud history of leadership and innovation in sustainable investing,” said Anne Stausboll, CalPERS Chief Executive Officer. “We have been engaging directly with companies on environmental, social and governance issues for many years and are founding members of global networks such as the United Nations-backed Principles for Responsible Investment. With our new approach, we have created a roadmap for sustainable investment that will serve our members, employers, stakeholders and the companies we invest in today and in years to come.”
CalPERS report is rich with examples and achievements by the fund and also addresses CalPERS views on the importance of sustainable investing, including:
- The “3Ps” of the CalPERS Program: Priorities, Performance, and Procurement;
- The core themes of alignment of interest, climate change and human capital;
- Sustainable principles at work in the pension fund’s global proxy voting and Focus List programs; and
- The relationships CalPERS has with leading sustainable and corporate governance associations and academic bodies.
“Sustainability in its simplest form is the ability to continue,” said Anne Simpson, Director of Corporate Governance for CalPERS. “There are both risks and opportunities ahead. The ESG framework we’re adopting will help us make better investment decisions for the long term.”
The full report can be viewed and downloaded at the Towards Sustainable Investment page.
CalPERS, with assets of approximately $235 billion, is the largest public pension fund in the U.S. It administers retirement benefits for more than 1.6 million California State, local government, and public school employees, retirees, and their families on behalf of more than 3,000 public employers, and health benefits for more than 1.3 million enrollees. The average CalPERS pension benefit is $2,332 per month. The average benefit for those who retired in the recent fiscal year ended June 30, 2011, is $3,065 per month. For more about CalPERS, visit www.calpers.ca.gov