US. CalPERS pension fund to review private equity investments
The California Public Employees’ Retirement System, or CalPERS, plans to scrutinize its private equity investments at next month’s board meeting with an eye toward reviewing the governance and transparency of the asset class.
Chief Investment Officer Ted Eliopoulos told the investment board on Monday that despite the high returns of its private equity investments, the negative public scrutiny of the asset class had made “it increasingly difficult for CalPERS to compete successfully in the private equity marketplace.”
The “fish bowl of CalPERS may have reached a tipping point for us in private equity,” said Eliopoulos. “Over the course of the past two years and frequently in these monthly investment committee meetings, CalPERS staff is attacked and denigrated for our decision to invest in these funds.”
In July, the pension fund plans to review “the private equity business models available to us,” Eliopoulos told the board, in order to find an “effective governance system to oversee private equity investing.” He warned that if CalPERS cannot find a solution, the board may need to “weigh a much reduced allocation to private equity.”
Full Content: Reuters
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