The coronavirus pandemic is driving many teachers in California into early retirement, according to an assessment by the state’s teacher pension system.

More than 3,200 teachers in California retired in the second half of 2020. That’s a more than 25 percent increase over the same period the previous year.

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More California teachers are retiring than at any point since the Great Recession, with many of those decisions motivated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

More than 3,200 teachers retired in the second half of 2020, a 26% increase over that same period in 2019, according to a blog post by the California State Teachers’ Retirement System, also known as CalSTRS.

Exxon Mobil Corp, a giant of the energy world and once the world’s most valuable company, is being pressured by a small investment company whose campaign for spending cuts and management change has been gathering more supporters.

Exxon has fended off past challenges seeking big change to its policies and leadership. But faltering returns – its shares are off 40% in the last five years and losses through September have reached $2.37 billion – could swing more holders behind the activist, say investors and analysts.

Exxon Mobil Corp. is facing the threat of a proxy fight from a newcomer activist investor with a sustainability bent that wants the beleaguered energy giant to act faster to remake itself.

Engine No. 1 LLC, an investment firm launched by Chris James last week, is preparing to send a letter to Exxon ’s board urging the Irving, Texas-based company to focus more on investments in clean energy while cutting costs elsewhere to preserve its dividend. The letter, a copy of which was viewed by The Wall Street Journal, identifies four people the firm plans to nominate to Exxon’s 10-person board.

More advanced derivatives are needed to hedge environmental, social and governance risks, so investors can move away from “binary” buy-or-sell choices, says the chief investment officer of the second-largest US pension fund, the California State Teachers’ Retirement System.

Christopher Ailman, CIO of CalSTRS, says the fund has struggled to find “good tools” to hedge ESG risks in its $263 billion portfolio.

Christopher Ailman, chief investment officer of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), says investors have to take action and be prepared for changes in the energy industry. He speaks during an interview with Bloomberg’s Romaine Bostick and Caroline Hyde on “Bloomberg Markets: The Close.”

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Christopher Ailman, CIO of public pension fund CalSTRS, discusses what’s been driving the volatility in the markets, and how he’s positioning the fund’s massive portfolio.

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Christopher Ailman, chief investment officer of the California State Teachers’ Retirement System (CalSTRS), says it’s going to take a long time for the U.S. economy to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic. He speaks during an interview with Bloomberg’s Romaine Bostick, Caroline Hyde and Taylor Riggs on “Bloomberg Markets: The Close.”

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Public pension funds set a 22-year performance record in the second quarter, recovering some but not all of their losses from the first quarter.

Double-digit stock gains pushed pension returns to a median 11.1% for the second quarter, according to Wilshire Trust Universe Comparison Service.

Even with the rebound, median annual returns for the public pensions whose fiscal years ended June 30 were 3.2%, far short of the funds’ long-term investment-return target of around 7%.